Waterford — While a student at Middletown High School, Regina Rush-Kittle believed she could be anything.

She was involved in various extracurricular activities including Glee Club, the yearbook staff, and three varsity sports.

Later, as a student at the University of Connecticut, she decided she wanted to enlist in the military, specifically the reserves, so she could serve her country while pursuing a civilian career.

She wanted to be the first female Supreme Court Justice. But that same year, Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to the bench.

"So, I had to refocus and come up with another plan," Rush-Kittle said to a room of laughs Wednesday at the Southeastern Connecticut Women's Network's annual military appreciation luncheon at Langley's Restaurant at Great Neck Country Club in Waterford.

Rush-Kittle worked for many years in law enforcement, becoming the first African-American woman to attain the rank of major in the Connecticut State Police, and served in the Marine and Army Reserves before becoming deputy commissioner of the state's Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Rush-Kittle enlisted in Marine Corps Reserves during winter break of her junior year of college after hearing from a military recruiter that the Marines would provide the toughest challenge.

"Enough said. Too easy. I had to be a Marine," she said.

Days after she completed her junior year at UConn, she was one of two females who boarded a bus full of recruits headed for Parris Island, S.C. She spent three years in the Marine Reserves, which, she said, provided the foundation for her future success in the military.

The attacks of 9/11 changed the course of her dual military-civilian career. By then, she was serving in the Army Reserves and working for the state police.

She received just 36 hours' notice for her first deployment to Kuwait in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After spending the first few hours in "total shock," she then set out to complete a flurry of tasks.

"I packed two duffel bags, braided my daughter's hair, did laundry. I updated my will. I created a power of attorney. I broke the news to my 16-year-old son and my 4-year-old daughter at dinner that following evening. I turned in all my equipment to the Connecticut State Police. I took a nap and then I got up and headed up to be ready for deployment," Rush-Kittle said.

During the year she spent in Kuwait, her unit helped distribute medical supplies and equipment for the Iraq War.

In 2009, she deployed to Afghanistan as a member of an all-female command team — the only one in Afghanistan at that time, she said to applause from the audience. There, she oversaw a military intelligence battalion comprising about 280 soldiers and officers. She was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during the deployment.

Rush-Kittle is a 2017 inductee of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. Before Rush-Kittle's talk, Pam Dougherty, director of development for the nonprofit organization, shared stories of several other of the inductees with military connections:

Hannah Bunce Watson, who became publisher of The Connecticut Courant in the midst of the American Revolution, keeping the colonies informed about what was going on.

Margaret Bourke-White, the first female war correspondent and first female photographer for Life magazine.

Ruth Alice Lucas, the first African-American woman to attain the rank of full colonel in the United States Air Force.

Kristen Griest, one of the first women to graduate from Army Ranger School.

j.bergman@theday.com