U.S. Army Captain Rebecca Leigh Stratford ’10

The Clemson Young Alumni Council presented its Roaring10 award to U.S. Army Captain Rebecca Leigh Stratford of Clarksville, Tenn.

The award is given annually to 10 outstanding nominees who received undergraduate or graduate degrees from Clemson University within the past 10 years and who exemplify Clemson’s core values of honesty, integrity and respect. Recipients are recognized for their impact in business, leadership, community, educational and philanthropic endeavors.

Stratford graduated from Clemson in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in genetics and a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army via Clemson’s Army ROTC program. She served as an ambulance platoon leader at Fort Campbell, Ky., and then deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XII-XIII as a medical company executive officer responsible for 75 soldiers. 

While overseas she was placed in charge of medical logistics and operations for a 1,500 person brigade combat team and was selected for the Army’s Long Term Health Education and Training (LTHET) program to attend the Clinical Lab Officer Course at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. 

After successfully completing the course and becoming a board-certified Medical Laboratory Scientist, she was assigned as the deputy chief of Core Laboratory Services at the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Ga. In that role, she led a team that, within four months, set up a fully accredited and functional mobilization laboratory at Camp Shelby, Miss., capable of preparing 800 soldiers a day for deployment operations. For her exemplary work at Camp Shelby, she was awarded the Army’s Meritorious Service Medal.

Also during her time at Fort Gordon, Stratford was selected a second time for the LTHET program to pursue a master’s degree in clinical laboratory science. She chose to attend Augusta University, where she earned a Master of Science – Clinical Laboratory Science in 2020.

In September 2020, she returned to Fort Campbell to become laboratory manager at the Blanchfield Army Community Hospital.

Stratford has served as a volunteer for numerous community activities, ranging from Forces United, which connects service members, veterans and their families with programs and resources to help them in times of need, to the Alliance for Smiles, which provides free comprehensive treatment for children with cleft lip and palate anomalies in under-served areas of the world. 

Her service to Clemson includes mentoring other Clemson alumni who are soldiers as they begin their careers. She became a donor to IPTAY, Clemson’s athletic fundraising organization, when she was still a student, and often travels back to campus for athletic and other events. She also has supported Clemson alumni activities in the various communities where she has lived.

 

Members of the Clemson family nominate potential Roaring10 honorees, who are then selected by the Clemson Young Alumni Council. The 2021 award presentation will occur during the fall. 

 

The primary mission of the Clemson Young Alumni Council is to support the goals of the Clemson Alumni Association specifically on matters pertaining to young alumni. The Clemson Alumni Association is an open-membership, nonprofit organization that exists to connect alumni with their alma mater. Through a variety of programs and services, the Alumni Association works with alumni around the world to ensure they have a Clemson Experience every day.