Lisa Carrington Firmin

Lisa Carrington Firmin is a writer, poet, and author of Stories from the Front: Pain, Betrayal and Resilience on the MST Battlefieldwhich was published by Blue Ear Books on April 22, 2022, to commemorate the second anniversary of the murder of the soldier Vanessa Guillén. As founder/CEO of Carrington Firmin, LLC she provides consulting services in Leadership, Veterans, Transitions, Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Hispanics in the Military and Diversity/Inclusion. She is the founder of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s department of Veteran and Military Affairs and the UTSA Top Scholar program.

Carrington Firmin retired from the United States Air Force as its most senior ranking Latina officer in 2010 after serving 30 years. She lived all over the world, traveled extensively, served as a commander and leader at various organizations throughout her military career to include the Pentagon and Strategic Command. She served as an Expeditionary Mission Support Group Commander in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle. A proven leader in peacetime and in combat, she is a highly decorated officer receiving many honors and accolades while in the military, in higher education and now as a consultant, writer and speaker.

Her article “A Family Tradition of Service,” about three generations of women serving, was featured in the March 2023 edition of Military Officer magazine. Her opinion article “Women protecting their country, yet military fails to protect them” was featured in the San Antonio Express-News in 2020 and republished by Military Times. She has written articles for Latina Style magazine on military life and transitions, and her article “Deploying Leadership: Steady Skills to Serve in Any Environment” was featured in Phi Kappa Phi Forum magazine. Two book chapters she authored, “The Transition: Colonel to Associate Provost” and “Serving Student Veterans at the University of Texas at San Antonio: Accomplishments and Challenges,” have informed and assisted military-affiliated students and the faculty and staff who support them. Her shrewd work Hispanics: An Untapped Leadership Resource, penned in 2002, remains relevant, timely, and intuitive in its conclusions and recommendations for the Air Force. Carrington Firmin regularly writes Substack articles and is co-editor of the Veterans’ Books Initiative at Blue Ear Books. She has been interviewed in various media to include the #IAmVanessaGuillen documentary by Univision, VFW Magazine, and Military Officer magazine.

Several of her poems have been shared throughout the nation to include the Library of Congress in 2022, and two were featured at a national art exhibit in 2021 at the Military Women’s Memorial in Washington, DC. Her poetry is deeply personal, an intimate reflection providing unique insights into the invisible wounds of MST, PTSD, trauma, hardship, and combat. Currently working on A Latina Warrior’s Journey, a book of poems, prose, and art (projected for release by Blue Ear Books in November 2023).

Serving on multiple boards nationally, Carrington Firmin’s efforts are focused on assisting those from underrepresented groups. Known to many as The Firminator or La Coronela, she has been featured on numerous media and is often referred to as a leader, trailblazer, a mover and shaker, a maverick and a chingona. Please visit her professional website at https://www.lisacarringtonfirmin.com/ to learn more.