Vernice was born in Chicago, IL in 1973 and grew up in Memphis, TN. In 1991, she graduated from John Overton High School for Creative and Performing Arts, where she was very active in the music program, class Vice President, and a member of Mu Alpha Theta (the mathematics honor society) and The National Honor Society.
Vernice marched in the military boot steps of both her dad, Clarence Jackson, a former Marine, who married Vernice's mother, Authurine, and her father, Gaston C. Armour Jr. of Chicago, a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserves.
In 1993, the future combat pilot enlisted in the Army Reserves and a few months later joined the Army ROTC program while enrolled at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
During an Army ROTC career day, the seed of becoming a pilot was planted when Vernice saw the image of a young black female in an Army flight suit. “Now why didn’t I think of that,” was her first thought! From this experience, Vernice knows the power of an “image” and a positive ROLEMODEL. Legacy is the name of this game!
In June of 1996 after a brief stint as a Nashville Sheriff's Dept Correction Officer, Vernice took additional time off from college to accept an invitation to the Nashville Police Academy and graduated as a police officer in December 1996. Vernice was the second woman and first African American woman on the Nashville Police Department's motorcycle squad.
She graduated from MTSU in December of 1997 with her B.S. in Physical Education: Emphasis in Exercise Science. In 1998, with the seed in full bloom, Vernice was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps on December 12, 1998 and on her way to flight school.
When Vernice finally earned her wings in July 2001, the ambitious pilot ranked No. 1 out her class of 12 and of the last 200 to graduate from flight school. As the top graduate, she made the Naval Air Station's prestigious Commodore's List, received the Academic Achievement Award and subsequently made history as the Marine Corps’ first African-American female pilot.
After flight school, Vernice was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego, CA, and honed her skills piloting the famed AH-1W Super Cobra. She was named Camp Pendleton's 2001 Female Athlete of the Year, two-time titleholder in Camp Pendleton's annual Strongest Warrior Competition, and was a running back for the San Diego Sunfire women's professional football team.
One of the few and the proud, during the start of the war in March 2003, United States Marine Corps captain Armour was one of 1,500 female Marines in the Persian Gulf fighting to dismantle the regime of Saddam Hussein in Operation Iraqi Freedom. During Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, Vernice flew above the deserts of Iraq in her missile-equipped attack helicopter (employing her aircraft in combat pictured at left), engaging the enemy and scouting the roads from her cockpit, making sure they were safe for her fellow Marines and soldiers on the ground. She has completed 2 combat tours of duty in the Gulf.
With her departure out of the Marine Corps in June 2007, Vernice continues to pursue her passions as an author, professional speaker, and trainer; addressing professional organizations, businesses, and schools, emphasizing leadership, pursuing your passion in life, education, and taking positive steps to reach goals.
Vernice's Contact Information:
Office: 888.213.0431
Email: Vernice@VerniceArmour.com