CAPER National Commanders

I created this page to honor all of the Coed Affiliates Pershing Rifles and Pershing Angels National Commanders.

It's not because we were special, but because each one of us stepped up to the challenge.  

Most of us were young college students who because of where we went to college had the chance to take the position.  Some didn't even have much experience with the organization when they stepped up.  I think most of us had the problem of running the national headquarters with a small number of members.  That meant we had to work with our local functions, too.  Regardless of how long we had command or how successful we feel our time might have been, we were successful. 

We were successful because there are still Pershing Angels today.  

Yes, the organization has kept going for 44 years.  The name changed.  The organizational structure changed.  Times have changed.  It doesn't matter.  We all kept it going in our own way.

We are only special because we are a group of members who had the privilege of seeing the organization from the national perspective.  We share that with all of the Pershing Rifles National Commanders and most Regimental Commanders.

I am thrilled that we now have the names of most of the National Commanders.  I'm looking forward to the time that all of our National Commanders are named here, have their picture here...and have been found.  I am in contact with each of the National Commanders whose names are in bold. 

Linda

PS.  If you have been here is the past or remember anything about CAPER history, you'll notice something different.  Since I started in CAPERS I thought that Tanya was our first National Commander.  In August 2010, I received some "loaner" copies of the "Pershing Rifleman" yearbooks for more research.  Even though I had these issues at one time, I used them for research on coed units and didn't pay any attention to what they said.  I'm proud to add the name of CAPER COL Gloria Robertson to this list.  I'm adding information I've gained all over this website!

	Rank	First Name	Maiden Name	Married Name	College	Dates
	COL	Gloria	Robertson		University of Oklahoma	Starting with Kaydettes National and then CAPERS until Tanya took over command.
	COL	Tanya	McDonald	Miller	University of Oklahoma	?? to May 1967
	COL	Patricia Gail	Todd	Kish	University of Oklahoma	May 1967 to Jan 1968
	COL	Kathryn (Kay)	Sykes		University of Oklahoma	Jan 1968 to Jan 1969
	COL	Nina Rose	Jacoby		University of Oklahoma	Jan 1969 to March 1969
	COL	Gwen	Coley		University of Oklahoma	March 1969 to Oct 1969
	BG	Iris	Rodriguez		University of Oklahoma	Oct 1969 to May 1970
	BG	Linda	Grissette	(Grayson)	University of Oklahoma	May 1970 to May 1971
	BG	Paulette	Kikugawa	Lum	University of Oklahoma	May 1971 to Jan 1972 (Estimate)
	BG	Gwen	Howell	Kelly	University of Oklahoma	Jan 1972  to Feb 1972 (Estimate.  Paulette just couldn't bear to move the headquarters and transferred command to Gwen who was Linda's Chief of Staff and Paulette's Deputy Commander.)
	BG	Susan	Lindholm		Kansas State University	Feb 1972 to April 1972
	BG	Rhonda	McGuire		Kansas State University	1972-1973
	BG	Elizabeth	Crammer		Kansas State University	1973-1974
					Kansas State University	1974-75
National Headquarters was moved to Auburn University in Alabama
....we don't have any names of the National Commanders there.  We need more information on this period of time.
	BG	Susan	Rice		Appalachian State University	1978-1979
	BG	Cheryl	Beers	Cullen	Seton Hall University	1979-1980
	BG	Sharon	Sanders		Seton Hall University	1981 (length of term unknown)
	BG	Shirley	Jones		Seton Hall University	1982-83
We have two different years for when CAPERS officially ended, 1980 and 1982.   On May 1, 2010 I heard from Irene (Rodriguez) Lee, who was missing from this list until then.  She told me that nationally they were called Pershing Angels, but locally as CAPERS.  She has put me in contact with Fran (Lopes) Steffens and I hope to get more information on the history of the official end of CAPERS.   But more importantly, this group of National Commanders gives us the real link between CAPERS and Pershing Angels.  I think we are all together as alumni.
	BG	Fran	Lopes	Steffens	St. Peters College	1985
	BG	Irene	Rodriguez	Lee	St. Peters College	1986
	BG	Madeline	Colon		St. Peters College	1989*
* The date of 1989 was from the Pershing Angels history, but according to Irene Rodriguez Lee, Madeline Colon was the year after her, which would make the year 1987.  That would make a 3 year gap with no National Headquarters before Pershing Angels were re-organized in 1990.   This is a listing of the Pershing Angels National Commanders from their website.  The Pershing Angels National Staff members are all alumni.   Wanda Green, the immediate past Pershing Angels National Commander, was a CAPER who pledged in 1977.  We don't have the name of their new commander yet.
	BG	Lisa	Cannon		Atlanta, GA	Nov 1990 to 1992
	BG	Tiji	Murphy-Hipp		Morgan State University	1992-1995
	BG	Adrian	Pugh		Howard University	1997-1998
	BG	Latonja	Estelle		Howard University	1998-2000
	BG	Michelle	Richardson		Norfolk State University	2000-2002
	BG	Wanda	Green		Morgan State University	2002-2010

If you would like to add names of members that you know were CAPER National Commanders, please click here.  Be sure to note in the comments that they were on National Staff, as well as when and where and any other information you have.

 If you would like to give us any better information on various headquarters dates, etc, please submit them.

If you would like to send us your contact information, click here.

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The creator of this website, Linda Grissette (the 1970-71 CAPER National Commander) is not asking for any money to help support this project.  Her reward will be finding people she remembers and learning about other former members memories.  If you appreciate the effort, please use her for all of real estate needs.  If you aren't in the St. Louis area where she works, she can find a great agent in your area and will receive a small referral fee.  Contact Linda about real estate.  See Linda's main real estate website.