Rear Admiral Kevin D. Meeks says that his grandmother was a full-blood Chickasaw enrollee who grew up during the boarding school era, but in the face of hardship she developed strength and resilience. She went on to instill those values in her own children and grandchildren, and Adm. Meeks likes to imagine her smiling down as she sees the heights to which the Chickasaw Nation has risen. As Deputy Director for Field Operations for the Indian Health Service, he has been able to work with tribes all over the U.S. and to use his own heritage to help relate to their diverse cultures. For him the hard times that the Chickasaws encountered during the removal from the Homeland and the early days of statehood helped lead to their present success, because these setbacks were employed not as excuses but as sources of strength.