CW2 Mari Blanding

CW3 Mari McKinzie Blanding was born a twin on September 22, 1973 in Saigon, Vietnam. She attended the majority of her education in the Cumberland County school systems and enlisted in the United States Army under the Delayed Entry Program immediately following graduation in 1992. WO1 Blanding’s first duty station was Kitzingen, Germany where she worked as a 92A, Automated Logistics Specialist. She was also stationed at Fort Stewart, GA; Fort Bragg, NC; deployed to Camp Caldwell, Iraq with the 30th BCT of the North Carolina Army National Guard, as well as the 351st Aviation Support Battalion of the SCARNG to Afghanistan, and just recently returned from a deployment with HHB, 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade to Germany. She began her career as a 92Y, Unit Supply Sergeant in July 2009 with Detachment 1, Alpha Company 351st Aviation Support Battalion out of Cheraw, South Carolina in the SCARNG. On April 1, 2016, she was promoted to Sergeant First Class and assigned to Joint Force Headquarters where she was an inspector on the Maintenance Assistance and Instruction Team while on M-day status. As of April 08, 2017, she became a Warrant Officer in the logistics field and also became a Safety technician with the State Safety office.

She is currently enrolled in online college courses with Columbia Southern University and will graduate with a Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership this year. She is married to another service member in the South Carolina Army National Guard, SFC Walter Blanding. She has a daughter named Zasha who is attending Francis Marion University majoring in Art Education.