Archived Spotlight Articles
Spotlight on CAWP Member: Regina Rush-Kittle
An impressive soldier and law enforcement officer, and an exemplary role model. A member of the U.S. Army Reserve, she recently completed a yearlong tour of duty in Afghanistan as the Command Sergeant Major of the 321st Military Intelligence Battalion of Austin, Tx. During this deployment, she was awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star, the NATO Afghanistan Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal and Overseas Service Ribbon. Prior to that, she served as the Command Sergeant Major of the 325th Military Intelligence Battalion of East Windsor, CT.
Rush-Kittle began her military career in 1982 with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve while enrolled as a University of Connecticut student. Following an honorable discharge, she joined the U.S. Army Reserve to become a Drill Sergeant. She started her law enforcement career in 1983 with the Connecticut Department of Corrections, serving as a Correctional Officer for two years. She then was hired as the first African-American female officer to serve on the Middletown, Conn. Police Department. Several years later, she became a Connecticut State Trooper and was the first African-American female to be promoted to the rank of State Police Sergeant.
Rush-Kittle's first overseas deployment was in 2003 as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Returning to Connecticut, she was assigned as Acting Executive Officer of the State Police's Troop K and, after scoring #1 on both the Lieutenants' and the Master Sergeants' exams, was promoted to the rank of State Police Lieutenant again the first African-American female in the department's history to attain that rank. That same year, she was assigned as Commanding Officer of Troop I in Bethany, and was selected by the Connecticut Association of Women Police as its "2005 Police Officer of the Year."
Rush-Kittle grew up in Middletown, Conn. Today, she lives in Rocky Hill with her husband, William Kittle, a Connecticut Army National Guard retiree who also is a Connecticut State Trooper, and their children, Jorrell and Gianna.
