Chiquita Pena is set to compete in the Miss Veteran America competition in Orlando this October.
Pena, of Woodbridge, has been a Virginia resident for 13 years, originally hailing from North Carolina. “The military is how I found my way to Virginia,” Pena said. She served as an Army reservist, working in banking and later as a financial specialist and public affairs professional, with deployments to Afghanistan twice. “I served for 16 years,” she added.