Alumna Lettie J. Bien, JD ’86, with Professor Donna Coker, Associate Dean Raquel Matas, and Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez, JD ’90, at 2007 Miami-Dade County Judicial Reception at the Mellon Financial Center in Miami.

UM Law alumna Lettie J. Bien, JD ’86, a formerly retired U.S. Army colonel who is serving in Iraq as a special advisor, was the Mistress of Ceremonies for a Iraqi Women’s Initiatives Conference held at Camp Victory in Iraq on June 27.

The conference, which was focused on improving the lives of Iraqi women, was attended by over 100 people including US government officials from the Department of Defense, Department of State, and USAID, as well as Iraqi government officials, NGOs, Provincial Reconstruction Team members, Iraqi bi-lingual and bi-cultural advisors, and business representatives, among others.

Bien is an attorney and former president and CEO of the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. She is in her second deployment in Iraq. Her first, as a U.S. army colonel, was in 2004. In her career, she has served in Baghdad, Iraq, where as a civil affairs officer she was assigned as the US Government’s senior advisor/consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals. In addition, she was appointed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to the Iraqi Privatization Commission.

Bien was promoted to full colonel in 2001 after turning over command of the 431st Civil Affairs Battalion in Little Rock, Arkansas. A promotion ceremony was held at U.S. Southern Command Headquarters in Miami. After a deployment in 2006, the Coral Gables Chamber celebrated Bien’s return with The Coconut Ball at the Country Club of Coral Gables.

In 2007, she retired after 30 years in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Reserves. She was asked to return in 2009 as a special advisor.

posted 4-September-2009

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