Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Airman owns mistake, recovers from Article 15, becomes shining exampleAirman owns mistake, recovers from Article 15, becomes shining e
                        
                        
                        Airman 1st Class Mary Kapuscinski, 7th Operations Support Squadron meteorologist, warned base members of a tornado May 18, 2019, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. She is credited with keeping safe more than 13,700 people safe. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class River Bruce)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Airman owns mistake, recovers from Article 15, becomes shining examplePublished July 2, 2019
                    
                    By Airman 1st Class River Bruce
                    
                    
                    7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
            **DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --**You’re sitting in front of your commander about to receive an Article 15.
Panic sets in as you ask yourself, “Is my career over?”
Spoiler alert: Not necessarily.
Airman 1st Class Mary Kapuscinski, 7th Operations Support Squadron meteorologist, was recently recognized for an act that could have saved thousands of lives. She has won awards for her weather forecasting expertise. But it hasn’t always been positive times for her at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
Kapuscinski arrived from technical training to the 7th OSS Weather Flight in November 2015. She was married with high hopes for her relationship and Air Force career. To her disappointment, she began to see a negative turn in her marriage soon after her arrival.
To not get into detail, the marriage was just not good, said Kapuscinski. “Both parties were not happy.”
Work began to feel like an escape from home for Kapuscinski. She said she often found herself spending off-duty time with her colleagues to avoid home.
“Through work, I developed a great supporting cast of friends,” said Kapuscinski. “They convinced me that for the happiness of both parties, maybe the marriage shouldn’t go on."
“When I brought up divorce to my then-spouse, things began to get ugly,” she said. “He wouldn’t leave the house, and every move I made was watched and reported by him. My belief was that the only way to cure his anger was to get me in trouble. Emotions and tension in the house lead to me receiving a letter of reprimand for a private incident that occurred.”
A Letter of Reprimand is an administrative disciplinary action, and if piled up, LORs can lead to non-judicial military punishment and even discharges.
“The divorce ended up going through,” said Kapuscinski. “With that and the LOR on my mind, I became depressed and chose the wrong way to cope. I began to drink a lot. I started hanging out with a group that I thought was good for me, but they just cared about partying. I didn’t realize the path I was on; I just wanted to forget.
“Eventually, I ended up on a TDY and everything seemed to be going well,” said Kapuscinski. “One night I began to drink, because I knew my shift the next day was going to be short and nothing significant was going to occur. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, I blacked out, missed work and was informed I was receiving an Article 15. My career and life seemed to be falling apart in front of me.”
A Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 15 is the highest form of military non-judicial punishment and is often referred to as career-ending paperwork.
She was then demoted from Senior Airman to Airman First Class.
What she did next can serve as an example to anyone who makes a mistake, said Lt. Col. Jade Reidy, 7th OSS commander.
“She owned it,” said Reidy. “She took responsibility at a time when she was at her absolute lowest, and it stung. I could see disappointment in her eyes. I sat across from her and told her ‘I believe in you. You can turn this around.’ She did just that.”
Reidy said that she saw a change almost immediately after the Article 15. Kapusconski began to focus on becoming an expert in her craft and an example for Airmen.
Over the next year, Kapuscinski earned multiple Performer of the Month Awards and one Airman of the Quarter award. She was recently recognized for distinguishing herself in a time of crisis.
On May 18, Kapuscinski was working a night shift alone when her weather-radar system began to malfunction. She adapted and discovered the only way to get weather scans was by closing the program and reopening it after every scan.
The scanning process is the bulk of her job, Kapuscinski said. The process includes watching a computer’s top view of Earth and tracking different weather formations in and around Texas.
“We had some light rain go over the base, but nothing significant was coming up on the scans the whole night,” she said.
As her shift came to an end, what seemed to be a tornado formed on her radar within five miles of the base.
“Immediately, my heart started racing and I knew what I had to do,” said Kapuscinski.
She went into action, but she knew with every second passing, lives could be at risk. Without the second opinion required by her response protocol, she made the decision to push out a tornado warning urging people to seek shelter immediately.
Her judgment was correct. Minutes later, a tornado touched down first on Dyess AFB and then in Abilene, Texas. It caused over $1 million in damage to the base and surrounding community.
She made her decision nearly 10 minutes faster than the National Weather Service. Sirens sounded the alarm on base, loud enough that even those nearby the perimeter of the installation could heed the warning.
She is credited with keeping the lives of more than 13,700 people at Dyess AFB safe in a circumstance that could easily have been a tragedy, said Reidy.
“Since the day she sat in my office in late 2017, her change has inspired me,” said Reidy. “And now she’s demonstrated leadership that saved an entire installation from potential tragedy by giving them extra minutes.”
The second chance she was given by caring leadership has been the key to her transformation, Kapuscinski said.
“I can truly say that the mistakes I’ve made have only helped me grow,” she said. “And it was the same mistakes that made me strong enough to make the decision I made that day.”
Every Airmen has a story, and some have a little more friction than others. Airman Kapuscinski is a prime example of how that same friction can lead to growth.AFWN 



Dyess Air Force Base 



7th Operations Support Squadron 



safety 



readiness 



AF Stories 



recognition 



lifesaver 



Meteorologist 



Growth 



leadership Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil