Robinson graduated UNH with a B.A. in English and was commissioned through AFROTC, beginning her Air Force career.
On May 1, 1981, Lori Robinson graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. That same period, she was commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program.
This milestone marked the formal beginning of what would become a storied 37-year military career. Rather than pursuing a path typical of English majors, Robinson chose military service, attending the Air Weapons Controller School at Tyndall Air Force Base the following year and beginning her specialty as an air battle manager — a demanding technical and tactical role responsible for directing air operations and coordinating combat aircraft.
Her educational foundation in English would later serve her well in the communication-intensive demands of senior military leadership, public affairs, and testimony before Congress. The commissioning represented an early, quiet step in a career that would ultimately break historic barriers for women in the U.S. armed forces, culminating decades later in her appointment as the first woman to lead a unified combatant command.