FORT LEE, Va., Nov. 15, 2016 — For Army 1st Lt. Amber Shipmon, an assignment to Fort Lee, Virginia, was not just a return to the familiar, but an opportunity to continue some unfinished business.

The 25-year-old officer, who serves as the executive officer for Victor Company, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, arrived here more than a year ago following a tour in South Korea. Her return was the fulfillment of a strong urge to continue her lifework of helping those in need. She talked about how it started.

“I attended [the Quartermaster] Basic Officer Leader Course [at Army Logistics University] in 2014, and we did a class volunteer project,” Shipmon recalled. “I remember saying, ‘If I ever come back to Fort Lee, I’m going make sure I volunteer and urge my soldiers to do so, as well.’”

Helping Others

Since her return, Shipmon said she has spent “hundreds of hours” of her own time along with willing students to support various causes and entities such as the Red Cross and Petersburg, Virginia, area schools.

“These organizations may be small, but they have a very large and positive impact on the community,” said Shipmon, who often makes the declaration, “One person can make a difference.”

Shipmon said her charitable work has roots in the wisdom of her mother and grandmother, both of whom encouraged “good deeds” from her on a continuous basis.

“I was taught to perform acts of kindness, work for what you want, keep moving and move others,” said the former high school basketball player whose grandfather and father retired here as soldiers.

Volunteering

Shipmon moved to the Fort Lee area from Dallas in 2007. Although she spent her summers here, she was not intimate with the area, and longed to do something other than participate in the organized sports that marked her childhood. She volunteered to work for the Red Cross during the summer prior to her senior year in high school.

“One, it made me familiar with the community and what kind of things the Red Cross did,” Shipmon said. “A house caught on fire, for example, and I know the Red Cross was there to support the family. They showed me it is not all about money. It definitely shaped my character.”

Shipmon further defined herself as a volunteer for the Petersburg YMCA after graduation from Norfolk State University in 2013. Fully exposed to the plights of the disadvantaged, she fell within a comfortable place there, finding the grid coordinates to a calling.

“Some days, I would go in to work and it didn’t feel like work,” Shipmon recalled.

Doing What She Can

During her stint here, Shipmon was the executive officer for Charlie Company, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, for about a year but has spent the past seven weeks in the same position in Victor Company. Her “14-16 hour days” to fulfill duties in the advanced individual training unit does not allow full participation in volunteer activities, but she has done what time allows.

Shipmon also has encouraged soldiers to lend their support. Most of them graduate awaiting military orders, she said, and they have responded well to the fact there is a need and to the notion their deeds assist a community relations mission much larger than themselves.

“When they see you helping,” she said of the community at large, “they are more willing to help you.”

Assisting Community Students

In September, a group of Victor Company soldier-students from Fort Lee raised money and bought school supplies for students at a Petersburg elementary school, Shipmon said.

“It made me feel great,” she said of the more than $400 collected by the students. “I felt like this is the future of the Army … and for them to have the mentality to care enough to take the initiative -- a trait great leaders have -- made me feel proud to be a part of the military.”

For Shipmon’s commander, Army Capt. Jean-Shay Wright, the effort was an affirmation of the junior officer’s effectiveness as a leader and humanitarian.

“Since she became a part of this company, she has been truly a blessing,” Wright said, noting Shipmon’s competency as her second-in-command. “She did so much while she was in Charlie Company … and she’s always making an effort to encourage us.”

Wright, who has participated in various volunteer endeavors with Shipmon, said company outreach efforts have been curtailed due to transportation policy restrictions.

“We no longer involve our Advanced Individual Training students [for volunteer endeavors], but we encourage our permanent party to come through and participate,” she said.

While Shipmon no longer has the footprint that large amounts of soldiers bring to any event, she said a smaller presence is no less important in the business of lifting people.

“I’m going to volunteer no matter what,” she said, pointing out a long-standing relationship with the YMCA and Petersburg schools. “I believe that one person can have an impact.”