Tom Heiser has little doubt that his experience serving in the U.S. Air Force in his early 20s has made a tremendous impact on the person he is today.

Story by: Henry Winkelhake on February 3, 2021

Tom Heiser has little doubt that his experience serving in the U.S. Air Force in his early 20s has made a tremendous impact on the person he is today.

“Like many young people contemplating military service, I saw it as a chance to reorient my focus on the future,” Tom said. “The upshot of my nearly six years in the service was the knowledge and experience gained from living in a foreign country, adapting to a new culture and witnessing an event as momentous as the fall of the Berlin Wall — all while working in an environment where my work was deemed invaluable to the nation.”

Tom spent 1 1/2 years learning Czech and Slovak at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, before deploying to Germany.

Tom is now a digital content manager in Norton Healthcare’s marketing and communications department. The values of teamwork and collaboration for the sake of a greater good also prove invaluable for Tom in his work.

Tom was instrumental in Norton Healthcare’s Engage initiative to provide employees with vital information ahead of the 2020 election. In working with this team, Tom helped promote voter registration, helped voters find polling locations and provided unbiased information on the candidates and their stances.

When away from the office, Tom enjoys working with Dare to Care’s monthly food bank through his parish, St. Agnes Catholic Church, and with St. Vincent de Paul Louisville to provide food baskets to those in need. He and his family also enjoy working with Down Syndrome of Louisville, where he says his teenage son has spent so many enjoyable hours with his peers learning about friendship and being part of the community.