MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Jessica Carroll’s desk is a collage of colorful artwork and family photos. At the Air Force Culture and Language Center, Carroll is the In-Region Training Consultant for the Foreign Area Officers. In her official duties, she helps the FAOs make travel arrangements for their language, culture, and strategic training.
On the home front, she describes herself as a “crafty mom”.
“I am a painter. I’ve been painting for years,” Carroll said. “I also do a lot of scrapbooking, cards….basically, anything art related.
Artistic genes runs in Carroll’s family, she said. Carroll said she has been painting her entire life; her son makes sculptures; and she has a twin sister in Louisiana who sews.
“My sister makes quilts, curtains, drapery, you name it. We have that common, we are both crafty. Other than that, we are total opposites,” Carroll laughed.
The sisters developed their art skills in Fulda, Germany as children. Carroll said her father was in the army and he was stationed in Germany when he met her mother. She spent most of her childhood living on the base overseas and in Savannah, Georgia.
“My mother stayed at home and my father traveled a lot,” she said, “he did all kinds of jobs in the Army and speaks nine languages: Swahili, French, German, Arabic, English, Italian, and more”.
Eventually, Carroll followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the Air Force. For 15 years, she served before she got out and started working at AFCLC. She now shares her experience and love for languages with others.
“I meet a lot of different people here,” Carroll said, “I help FAOs anyway I can”.
Along with learning about AFCLC, Carroll has embarked on a personal project that involves unraveling her family’s ancestry. Carroll’s mother is German and her father is African American. Recently, she invested in DNA testing to learn more about her family’s heritage.
“I wanted to know all the details of the ancestry, I learned my father is 86% Ethiopian,” Carroll explained, “I’ve been learning more about my history. I’m always learning, always”.