Spotlight on Lt. Col. Maria Worley, BS’85 

 

Maria Reger Worley’s best friend played a practical joke on her during college that would lead to a successful and rewarding career in the U.S. Army.

 

Maria was working as a waitress while attending Marshall and loved the food business. She thought a career as a dietitian could combine healthy eating with food service, and she liked that idea. Apparently her friend Georgeanne Warfuel did too. Georgeanne filled out a recruiting brochure for the Army Dietetic Internship and sent it in without Maria’s knowledge. When Maria found out how good the Army internship was, she decided to pursue the training. “After I went through the internship at Walter Reed in Washington, D.C.,” said Maria, “I was assigned to a basic training post at Fort Leonard Wood. I loved my first job teaching large groups of basic training soldiers about nutrition and supplement use as part of their fitness training. I was hooked on being part of this great group of selfless patriots.” 

 

Maria, a Huntington native, decided on Marshall because her brother, Pat Reger, was attending and doing very well. “He inspired me to go to there,” said Maria, “and it was the right decision. One of my professors, Ellie Zizzo, was committed to the profession of dietetics and truly believed in the benefits of good nutrition to health. She challenged me to think beyond the text book and look at the practical implications of diet for health. I credit Marshall University in preparing me to think critically. The support of my parents, brothers, husband and other family and friends in the Huntington community is a major contributor to my positive attitude and performance.

 

“It’s strange,” added Maria, “but people all over see my diploma on the wall of my office and almost everyone knows Marshall. They say, ‘Almost Heaven, right?’  I always say ‘by God.’”

 

Maria went into the army with the intent of staying there three years, but is still there 20 years later. She graduated from the Army Dietetic Internship Program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1985, and then was assigned to hospitals at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Landstuhl Army Medical Center, Germany; Belvoir, Va., and Campbell, Ky. She has been the dietitian in two combat units, the 47th Field Hospital in Vincenza, Italy, and the 86th Combat Support Hospital at Fort Campbell. She was the first dietician to be assigned as company commander of the 566th Medical Detachment in Landstuhl. Other posts include the east coast Army Medical Department (AMEDD) recruiter; the first SP Fellow in the Specialist Corps Chief Office in 1998; an assignment in the military structure office in the AMEDD Center and School, San Antonio, Texas; and chief dietitian, Nutrition Care Division, Brooke Army Medical Center.  

 

“I am still with the Army after all of this time because of my love of the selfless service attitude of soldiers and a strong belief in the benefits of nutrition to help them be stronger and better prepared for war,” said Maria. Her leadership in Army medical facilities has resulted in one site being awarded by the Army Surgeon General as a Center of Excellence site and a number of feature articles in food service trade journals.

 

On May 25, 2004, Maria was sworn in as the 20th Chief Dietitian U.S. Army, and was recently chosen for promotion to colonel. She will graduate from the U.S. Army War College in July with a master’s degree in strategic studies. Maria also earned a master of science in business administration from Boston University in 1991.

 

Maria, her husband, Chip, and their 14-year-old son, Daniel, live in San Antonio, Texas, but Maria still calls Huntington her home.