By Marisa Young | Staff Writer
Lieutenant Colonel Kimber Nettis graduated from Baylor in 2007, and 18 years later, she returned to her alma mater in a historic fashion.
Nettis assumed leadership of Baylor’s Air Force and Space Force Reserve Officer Training Corp (AFROTC) this semester, becoming Baylor’s first female commander of the program.
Detachment 810 has a distinguished history as one of the oldest AFROTC units in the country, and was ranked the No. 1 Medium Detachment nationally in 2025. Nettis described leading this detachment as her “dream job,” as it allowed her to return to Baylor after being commissioned for 18 years in the Air Force.
“I loved the training environment, I loved mentoring and I loved Baylor,” Nettis said. “With all of those things combined, I knew I wanted to end up back at Baylor one day.”
Waco senior and Wing Leader Gracie Brown said she looks forward to the heritage and unique insight that Nettis will bring to her detachment as an alumna.
“She learned everything she knows at Detachment 810 as a cadet,” Brown said. “Having her be able to bring that heritage back to Detachment 810 all these years later is super exciting. It’s nice to bring her home.”
According to Nettis, though she is the first female commander at Baylor, the detachment has historically had a higher population of women than most, with this year being approximately 40% female.
“I remember as a cadet, seeing the wall of former detachment commanders … and wondering who the first female detachment commander was going to be,” Nettis said. “And here we are. I’m humbled and amazed.”
Nettis looks forward to cultivating the already award-winning Detachment 810, utilizing her leadership experience in the Air Force and building on her own time as a cadet at Baylor.
“Lieutenant Colonel Sterling left me with a great detachment team … so I hope to keep that trajectory going,” Nettis said. “We are already seeing some fruits from cadets’ field training experiences and the things that they’re involved in at the national level, so I want to continue to support them and watch them grow.”
Besides the outstanding physical fitness assessment scores and GPAs that earned Detachment 810 its ranking, Nettis said its excellence lies in the character of its cadets.
“I think it’s what Baylor offers, that they truly grow leaders of character, leaders who care about what they’re doing and they put all of themselves into the program,” Nettis said. “You’ll see them in the detachment on their off-time when they don’t have to be there, and that’s just who they are.”
Houston senior Alissa Zenero said Nettis brings “humility, passion and kindness” in her leadership, setting an example of excellence for cadets to follow.
“The cadets at our detachment want to see each other succeed,” Zenero said. “They are consistently trying to find ways to not only push others, to get past their own personal barriers, but also go out of their way to mentor and share their experiences to help each individual cadet grow.”
Nettis said that, above all, her faith deeply impacts the way she approaches this leadership position.
“Christ was our servant leader, and he was our example, and I believe that as a leader, we should be servants to those that we are entrusted to lead,” Nettis said.
