From O’Gorman to Air Force, military intelligence leader builds on strong high school foundation

This paid piece is sponsored by Bishop O’Gorman Catholic Schools.

This spring will mark 15 years since Francesca Fogarty, now Francesca Chun, became a graduate of O’Gorman High School. 

Since then, she has gone on to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy, complete a research fellowship and a master’s degree and now serves as an intelligence squadron director of operations. 

In her own words, she shares how her experience at O’Gorman High School helped shape her future.

By Francesca (Fogarty) Chun, Class of 2009

Eighteen years ago, I walked into O’Gorman High School for the first time. My family, including my eight brothers and sisters, was moving from Minnesota to Sioux Falls and needed to find a good school to finish out our secondary education.

My parents empowered us to make many decisions and own up to them while growing up; where we wanted to go to school after we moved was part of that. I remember being drawn to the challenge that O’Gorman presented with its various honors classes and plethora of Advanced Placement courses, which my previous small-town school in Minnesota lacked. As many of you can relate to, an O’Gorman education is no easy thing, but a very worthwhile one.

Now, 18 years later, I am very happy with the choice I made to attend O’Gorman and thankful for the loving support of my parents and the faculty all those years ago. I was accepted to attend the USAF Academy in Colorado following graduation from O’Gorman in 2009, and I can honestly say that the rigors of that high school education were critical in preparing me to attend the Academy. Calculus from Mr. Linderman absolutely came in handy during my various mathematics and engineering courses that were part of the baseline curriculum at the Academy, even though I was a political science major. When I took honors physics at the Academy, the professor asked me how I ended up there as a “fuzzy” major. If I’m honest, it was all because of Ms. Schnell’s AP Physics class and her “mother” equation sheet, which I still have, just in case. From Mrs. Marquardt, I learned how to write and read, a LOT. Between that and Mr. Basche’s grammar exercises, I learned how to effectively articulate and organize my thoughts on paper, an invaluable skill in my career as an Air Force officer.

I also learned a love for the German language from Ms. Mackenzie at O’Gorman, which enabled me to pursue it further at the Academy. Because of the great language foundation I received in high school, I was able to pursue advanced German courses at the Academy. I qualified for an exchange semester at the German Air Force Officer School. It was during this exchange that I experienced German Basic Military Training, made it through German Survival Training and met my now husband and fellow exchange cadet, Andre Chun.

I would also be remiss to not mention Mrs. Mahoney and her incredible impact as the assistant principal at O’Gorman during my time as a student. From her, I saw a great example of leadership: She was both compassionate and kind to students while holding us accountable for our studies and behavior. I won’t say I was able to use that right away at the Academy, but the best way to learn leadership is to interact with great leaders. Mrs. Mahoney’s balanced approach to her role is one that I hope that I can someday emulate.

For O’Gorman grads who didn’t attend high school at the same time as me, a lot of the teachers’ names I highlighted here might not be familiar. Many of you have similar stories though: There have been a series of incredible people in your life who took the time to mentor and develop you. Many of those incredible people were at O’Gorman High School, and many of those experiences led you to lives you never could have dreamed of or predicted. That’s my O’Gorman story and likely yours as well.

After I graduated from the Academy, I completed a research fellowship on German civil-military relations through the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of the German Military in Munich. I took the opportunity to travel Europe and develop a deeper appreciation for not only those cultures and communities but also one for my own culture. 

I’ve since attended and graduated from the Intelligence Officer course at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas. I served a follow-on assignment at Offutt AFB, working in a unit-level intelligence role supporting various RC-135 platforms. I spent a lot of nights and weekends during that assignment working on my Master of Arts in International Relations through Creighton University, supported once again by amazing professors who took the time to work around my military schedule and deployments. Another incredible mentor at my first assignment encouraged and invested in me, preparing me to attend the U.S. Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AFB in Nevada. I graduated from the Intelligence Weapons Instructor Course in 2018 and spent an assignment as an intelligence weapons officer helping to stand up the KC-46 intelligence support program at McConnell AFB in Kansas.

 Andre and I finally got married at Creighton University in 2019, and we are now the proud parents of three beautiful children. Our little family is stationed at Nellis AFB, where we have both taught at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. I am fortunate to now serve as the 547th Intelligence Squadron’s director of operations. The Chun family will head to Washington, D.C., next, where I’ll pursue a second master’s degree, and Andre will go to work at the Pentagon on the Headquarters Air Force staff.

Ultimately, the life we have built now has breadcrumbs of memories and experiences, which for me include those extraordinarily formative years at O’Gorman. I have friends and classmates who have become fellow military officers, doctors, nurses, priests and all sorts of other professions. We have gone in different directions, but we are tied by that common O’Gorman thread. I’m proud to be an alumna of this incredible Blue Ribbon School, and I hope to be able to give my own children similar experiences and encouragement as they grow and launch their own lives and careers.

On May 1, our alumni have been challenged with a goal of raising $50,000 in one day. If you feel called to give, please visit ogknights.org/alumni/go-give-og-annual-day-of-giving, and help our determined alumni hit their goal to ensure that every student has the same opportunity they did: to receive a Catholic education in Sioux Falls.