Elisabeth Joy Collura
Veteran Dancer
Biography
Elisabeth Joy (Collura) is a US Army veteran, entrepreneur, and performer with combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). She has 11 years of military service and considers life to be an ongoing opportunity to grow and learn.
Elisabeth’s passion to serve continues well beyond her years in uniform. She holds a Master’s in Education from the University of Texas in Kinesiology and is a Licensed Massage Therapist. After receiving her graduate degree, she founded LCR Wellness, LLC, a holistic wellness company providing alternative therapy to include Massage Therapy, CranioSacral Therapy, Reiki, and Clinical Aromatherapy. She is a provider for the Corporal Chad Eric Oligschlager Foundation for PTSD.
In 2015, she decided to expand her skillset yet again and began acting and dance training. She found artistic expression and conscious movement to music to be highly beneficial to the mind-body-spirit triad. She is currently a performance team member with Agni the Dance Company, a multi-cultural Bollywood dance troupe and majoring in Dance at Austin Community College. She is the Dance Director for the Inaugural Austin Veteran Arts Festival scheduled for Fall 2019. Her next endeavor is to create a dance and movement therapy program for full-body awareness and integration for veterans and PTSD survivors.
In 2000, she began her active duty service as a second lieutenant and Distinguished Honor Graduate of the ROTC program at Ohio University. She then served as an Army Aviator flying Chinooks with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from 2001-2004. While in the 101st Airborne, she deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq in multiple leadership and liaison positions flying combat missions in both theaters.
In 2002, Elisabeth was assigned to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Bagram, Afghanistan where she flew missions supporting Special Forces soldiers from the United States, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Poland. In 2003, she deployed again for the initial invasion into Iraq through Kuwait. For the return voyage from OIF, she was selected as the officer in charge of escorting 1/8th of the 101st Airborne Division equipment onboard the USNS Benavidez from Doha, Kuwait to Jacksonville, Florida. Upon return to the United States, she continued her military education in the Aviation Officer Advanced Course and was stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas. She was assigned to 4th Infantry Division and then the 21st Cavalry Brigade as a Logistics Officer where she coordinated logistical requirements for units transitioning to the Longbow Apache Helicopter.
In 2007, Elisabeth completed her active duty service obligation and joined the Texas Army National Guard. Increasing her influential roles, she was selected as an Instructor with the Officer Candidate School. She was also selected to serve as a Federal Technician in the role of Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Texas Military Department where she served as a community relations representative with federal, state, local, and nonprofit organizations offering services to veterans and their families. Returning to Aviation, she was assigned as the State Aviation Training Officer, responsible for assessing and selecting future pilots for the Texas Army National Guard. The culmination of her military career was as the Commander of the Air Ambulance Company (Alamo Dustoff) flying Black Hawks for medical evacuation.