Equipped: Serving God Wherever He Leads

CW4 (Ret.) Stephen Schroeder (NWC '94, WLS '98) and his wife Sarah (DMLC '95) will share their experiences serving in the United States Army for the last twenty years. During Steve's military service, their family experienced many separations -- including four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, ten moves, and a devastating helicopter crash. These challenges not only tested and strengthened their faith, but also provided opportunities of service in ways unexpected.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 (Ret.) Stephen Schroeder served twenty years in the United States Army. During his service, Steve worked briefly in in Military Intelligence as a Mandarin Chinese Linguist before becoming a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He served as an Standardization Pilot, Air Mission Commander and Flight Lead, while being deployed to numerous combat zones throughout his career. His wife, Sarah (DMLC '95) managed the home front, raising 4 children and moving 10 times during their military life. In January of 2017, Steve's military service was unexpectedly cut short due to a helicopter crash during training. After a long recovery process, Steve and Sarah moved to the Tampa, Florida area where they both teach part time in the local WELS elementary school. Both Steve and Sarah are graduates from our worker training schools - Northwestern College ('94), Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary ('98), and Dr. Martin Luther College ('95) respectively.