Nancy Lacore is known by a number of titles: “mother” to six children, “wife” of an active-duty service member, “runner” who recently completed a 160-mile Valor Run, and “Captain” in the United States Navy Reserve.
Lacore is assigned to Navy Operational Support Center Norfolk, Virginia, where she currently resides. She is a 1986 graduate of the Academy of Holy Names in Albany, New York, and later attended The College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 1990. She mobilized to Afghanistan in 2011, a deployment she says significantly changed her understanding of service and sacrifice.
“I visited the Women’s Memorial for the first time this past February,” Lacore told Wounded Wear in a recent interview. “I found myself paging through a book devoted to the stories of the women who died in Iraq and Afghanistan and realized that, even after 24 years in the Navy, and serving in Afghanistan, I had no idea how many women we had lost.”
In response, Lacore developed Valor Run, a 160-mile undertaking she completed over the course of seven days in October 2014. During Valor Run, she ran 25 miles a day in six cities: the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, and Williamsburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Quantico, and Alexandria, Virginia/D.C. She finished the final 10 miles on day seven, ending the run at the Women’s Memorial in Arlington. Valor Run raised more than $33,000 which benefited The Women in Military Service for America Memorial and Wounded Wear, a Chesapeake-based organization.
“I completed my active duty aviation commitment and then chose the Navy Reserve because it allowed me the flexibility to support my active duty husband’s career, while continuing to serve and perform regardless of where we lived,” said Lacore of her own service. “I was also attracted to the flexible career paths in the Reserve that would allow me to have a family and still progress in the aviation community.”
Lacore is described as an “inspiration” by those she works with for her ability to balance family and professional obligations.
“The Navy Reserve allows me to serve without subjecting my family to countless moves,” Lacore explained. “I have also had the benefit of ‘scalable’ contributory support. There were years when life dictated that I perform the minimum required drills and annual training. Other years, I was able to provide significantly more support, such as several years of active duty support, or longer periods of active duty training.”
Most importantly,” continued Lacore, “I have had the privilege of working with some of the finest officers and sailors who continue to serve our country because they want to. In my Navy, people are treated fairly, performance is rewarded, and I get back more from the finest citizen-patriots I work with than I could ever hope to give.”
Vice Adm. Robin R. Braun, Chief of the Navy Reserve, is proud to lead such a talented and dedicated group of Sailors. “The commitment of our talented Sailors to the Navy, their shipmates and their community is truly inspirational,” said Braun. “Their continued dedicated service in support of the Navy, Marine Corps and Joint Force lends credence to our motto: ‘Ready Now. Anytime, Anywhere.’”
March 3, 2015, marks 100 years of the United States Navy Reserve. Throughout the year, Navy Reserve units will be celebrating the accomplishments of Reserve Sailors past and present.
Find out more about the celebration at http://navyreservecentennial.com/.