Citizen Airman shares her other title

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jared Trimarchi
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
Spiritual fitness involves exercising a belief which is greater than oneself and is one of the Air Force pillars on comprehensive fitness. For one Captain from the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, fostering children, being involved in a water project and volunteering her time, has earned her the title of dame (a female equivalent of a knight).

Captain Zohe Quintero, 920th Force Support Squadron operations officer, was knighted by the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, during a knighting ceremony in 2009 at a cathedral in Norway, and has since lived up to her title by helping those who are less fortunate.

“Today’s knights don’t run around fighting with swords and heavy armor,” Quintero said. “They use their words and wisdom to help those in need.”

Quintero has fostered more than 20 children, was part of a water project which provided clean water to those who did not have access to it in Africa; and even started an organization in her local community which provided underprivileged children with funds to participate in sporting events.

“I have always been a part of helping the local community,” Quintero said, who hails from Melbourne, Florida. “But having a role in an international organization that helps those in need around the world is a humbling experience.”

Col. Jeanne Bisesi, 920th Mission Support Group commander, said Quintero is an “unsung hero.”

“I am impressed with the people she has met from around the world to include high ranking military officers, ambassadors and even the queen of Spain,” Bisesi said.

Most people don’t know about her international status, even though she is involved in many volunteer functions around the wing, Bisesi added.

Quintero said the other knights and dames share a similar drive to help mankind.

Her ambition to make the world a better place has helped her in her spiritual fitness and has overall made her a better person, Quintero added. By sharing her story of becoming a dame, she hopes to spread the cheer of helping others who are less fortunate.

OSMTH, a non-governmental agency with special consultative status through the United Nations Economic and Social Council, supports worldwide projects that help people in poverty, according to the it’s website. The group requires each knight to have a strong sense of Christian morals and community outreach. Many of the knights are high ranking military officers from around the world.