Karen Kwiatkowski retired from the USAF in 2003 as a Lieutenant Colonel. She currently teaches college courses in American Government, and is currently employed as a high school biology and Earth Science teacher in western Virginia. She has an MA in Government from Harvard University, MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska, and has completed both Air Command and Staff College and the Naval War College seminar programs. She earned her Ph.D. in World Politics from Catholic University of America in 2005.