Before Women Could Be Fighter Pilots - Episode 29

Welcome to Episode 29 of Women of the Military Podcast. My guest today is Grace Tiscareno-Sato. Grace served in the Air Force on active duty in the 90s for 9 1/2 years. While she was in, she was a flight crew member onboard KC-135 refueling jets. She has been everywhere at least twice. She had two non-flying stints during her military service which included various leadership positions. She ran an airlift control center for NATO in Italy and ran counter narcotics operation support center in Ecuador. Grace’s parents immigrated to the United States and she grew up in the US. She knew in high school she wanted to attend college, but she also knew her family couldn’t afford to pay for her to attend college. She went to her high school councilors office to learn about how to attend college and she invited Grace to dinner to meet her husband. He is the one who told her about the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program that helped her find the Air Force and her career. She was a Navigator in the Air Force that started with flying but led to teaching others how to be a Navigator and war planning for different contingencies. Even with GPS technology today the Navigator plays an important role on the Aircraft. Grace served in the 90s in the early years of GPS but she was required to chart their course and if they lose GPS capabilities the Navigator has to quickly take over to ensure the Aircraft is in the right place. Her husband proposed to her the day she got her wings. He never served in the military, but has a shirt that says “Air Force Husband…hardest job in the Air Force.” It was hard to be military spouse as a male. Most of the other military spouses are female and almost all the events are female focused. It makes it hard for male military spouses to feel included and it can be lonely to be a military spouse and amplified if you are a male military spouse. She left the military right before she was scheduled to meet her Major board. She wanted to PCS and see the world while the Air Force wanted her to stay and possibly move to headquarters to do paperwork and not fly. She did not want to continue on that path, but was told that was her only option. Connect with Grace: www.Captainmama.com Get her book: Captain Mama Are you considering joining the military? Check out my free guide: A Girl's Guide to Military Life