First Lt. Devin Redding, budget officer for Fort Bragg-based 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), helped reform North Carolina's Miss Rodeo organization in 2015, after the state had gone several years without crowning a rodeo queen. After talking it over with Lindsey Harper, the group's national director, it was decided the 2012 Military Academy graduate should lead from the front - minus a pageant, Redding was awarded the Miss Rodeo North Carolina crown in late April.
The crown - or the cowboy hat, as it were - comes with a heavy schedule; Redding will spend several weekends meeting rodeo fans in her state as well as traveling with other state winners to larger events out West, eventually competing in a weeklong Miss Rodeo America pageant in Las Vegas starting in late November. Miss Rodeo, though, comes with its own stress: State winners must prepare for a Las Vegas event that includes the usual pageant fare - "Wranglers instead of bikinis," said Harper, a former contestant - along with interviews on rodeo knowledge and current events, as well as a horsemanship portion.
"Some of the skills I learned at West Point, and the skills that I have honed in the Army, have been really helpful," Redding said. "Staying organized, having attention to detail, all of those things are very important during this whole crazy process." Full Story»