Army spouse is next Fort Sill rising star

By Monica Wood, Fort Sill FMWR MarketingOctober 4, 2012

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(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. -- Six singers went into the Backbone Lounge for the Fort Sill Operation Rising Star finals and Katie Peltier walked out the Fort Sill star after beating some very talented competition at the finals Sept. 28.

The field of competitors included a former ORS competitor who ran neck and neck with her, 1st Lt. Scott Negrete, D Battery, 4th Battalion, 3rd Air Defense Artillery; Sgt. William Monroe, 15th Transportation Company, Spc. Amber Oney, Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery, and two military spouses, Bethany Seelig and Heather Harper.

"I was nervous but I was trying to be positive. I really wanted to get some exposure at Fort Sill because we had just

PCS'd from Fort Campbell in August, where I often sang at post functions and for my church," said Peltier.

Peltier and her husband, Staff Sgt. Brad-Lee Peltier, Fires Center of Excellence, Directorate of Training and Doctrine, arrived at Fort Sill in August. She entered the competition because she wanted to see if she could represent Fort Sill at functions and at church with her singing.

"I have been singing since birth," she said. "My mother always encouraged me and I've sung in church since I could remember. I made an independent CD while we were stationed at Fort Campbell."

Despite the risk of singing something unknown to the judges and audience, Peltier sang a song she wrote for her husband while he was deployed called "Where Are You Tonight." She sang it to him as he held their daughter, Chloe, on his shoulders. Their son, Connor, also cheered her on in the audience.

Peltier won $500 and advanced to the Armywide finals. The Rising Star grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two with a professional studio experience and $1,000 to spend.

"I want to do an album that tells my story. It was scary doing an original song for the finals, but I took a chance and it gave me the chance to sing it to my husband," she said. "He is so encouraging with my music and has sacrificed many times so I could sing. I wrote the song for him, and it expresses my feelings of holding it together until he comes home."

The 2012 Armywide Operation Rising Star finals will be in San Antonio and will be broadcast on the Pentagon Channel.