Editor’s Note: When U.S. Air Force C-130 pilot Capt. Thessa Washington became the first female Black C-130H pilot in the 165th Airlift wing of the Georgia Air National Guard at Savannah Air National Guard Base last year, she said she never imagined being the first of anything. In fact, there were moments in Washington’s journey from sheet metal worker through Undergraduate Pilot Training where she questioned if she was meant to earn her Air Force wings at all. Here is her story, lightly edited for space and clarity, as told to FLYING.
I wasn’t one that always knew I wanted to fly. I actually didn’t think of that as an option at all. It just never even came into my mind as a thing. I was enlisted first, in college with the Georgia Air National Guard. I wanted to become an officer once I graduated college. I wanted to travel more because my position in maintenance was not giving me the opportunity to travel as much as I wanted to, and that was one of the main reasons I joined the military. I also wanted to stay with the Savannah unit because I enjoyed the Savannah area and the unit itself.
