Female Aviation Trailblazers Share Experiences on Alamo Wing Podcast

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --

Episode 16 of Ready, Set, Airlift! featured two highly accomplished female aviators who had historic Air Force careers.

Retired Lt. Col. Olga Custodio served 24 years between the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserve, during which time she became the first female Hispanic pilot in the U.S. Military. Between her time in uniform and her career as a commercial airline pilot, Custodio logged more than 11,000 flight hours. She was the first Hispanic woman to graduate from U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training and went on to become the first female T-38 Talon flight instructor and later an instructor of T-38 flight instructors.

Retired Lt. Col. Caroline "Blaze" Jensen graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1998 and would go on to become an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilot, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She amassed some 3,500 flight hours, with 1,870 of those in the F-16 including 200 combat hours. Jensen became the fight female Air Force Reserve officer to fly with the U.S. Air Force Flight Demonstration Team, better known as the Thunderbirds. She retired from the Air Force in May 2020.

Both women recently visited here to speak with elementary school students participating in Starbase Kelly, which is part of a Department of Defense program to introduce underprivileged students to science, technology, engineering, and math. Starbase Kelly is housed within the footprint of the 433rd Airlift Wing, and many Alamo Wing Reserve Citizen Airmen proudly support the program in various ways.

Following their engagement with the students, Custodio and Jensen graciously agreed to share more about their inspiring Air Force journeys on the Alamo Wing's official podcast.

"I'm proud to have represented the Hispanic community in the military in this field," Custodio said. "I wasn't looking to be the first Hispanic, I was just looking for the opportunity to serve my country and then to find the opportunity to become an Air Force pilot."

Custodio, who is originally from Puerto Rico, pointed out that her father's service in the U.S. Army inspired her to look for her own way to serve.

"Now, I know that I do represent this Hispanic community," she said. "I feel that it's my turn to give back, to inspire this generation coming up. That they too can serve their country in any capacity at this point."

As she worked to become a military pilot, Custodio faced many challenges and resistance.

"You have to work more than that your male counterpart just to make sure that you show you can do the job," Custodio said. "You don't ask for any favors, any exceptions, or anything special… you step up just like every peer that is with you in the squadron."

Jensen noted similar challenges in her experience.

"The climate and the culture were definitely very difficult," Jensen said. "You want to go in and you don't want to stand out because you want to be just like everybody else, but then you're also very different."

She added that many times female pilots had to work with gear and equipment that wasn't suited to their needs.

"It was nearly impossible to relieve yourself in a cockpit with the flight suits that we had" Jensen pointed out. "The male piddle packs don't work for women. And when we got our G suits, they don't take into account your hips. This air bladder is now pushing up against your rib cage and into your lungs when you're pulling G's, which is against what you want."

During the podcast, both women shed light on how they were able to push through those moments of adversity and discussed some strategies that helped them.

"If you're motivated to pursue a goal, that's going to get you over those challenges," Custodio said. "To me, quitting was never an option, so I had to make sure I gave myself every opportunity to continue."

"You have to ask for help if you don't know," she added. "Finding advocates, allies, and mentors is a huge differentiator because sometimes in a moment of 'am I going to overcome this challenge' or 'how am I going to get through this challenge'… that's when you find your mentors and allies to help you with that."

Jensen drew strength from her family's history of military service, her grandparents having served during World War II and her father served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. She was also inspired by the legacy of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), a group of women who helped fill the critical need for pilots during World War II by performing flight duties such as delivering planes from factories to military bases.

"There were so many times in my life where I was having a hard time," Jensen noted. "And then I reminded myself, those women would just give anything to be sitting where I'm sitting."

"One of the most solidified memories that I have for my time in the service was sitting at the end of the runway at Hill Air Force Base (Utah) in a six ship of F-16s," Jensen said. "We're about to take off to deploy to Iraq. All I could think of was the WASPs. It was dark, one of my squadron mates was standing at the end of the row with a flashlight on an American flag, and the guys up in the tower had an American flag with the tower light on.

"All I could think of was how many of those women would have given anything to be there in my place," Jensen recalled, noting that memory still gives her goosebumps years later. "How many of them would have been so amazing at it? And because of their service and because of women like Olga too, I was able to do that. I was just so grateful to have that experience, and to help kind of culminate and further women in aviation that way was really special."

Jensen offered advice for anyone, but especially young women, looking to push themselves or make their own mark on history.

"Expect obstacles and expect setbacks," Jensen said. "You gain your courage with how you handle failures and difficulties. Don't let anyone put false restrictions on you. Don't put false restrictions on yourself. If you think that you can do something, expect to hit roadblocks, but how you handle them will make you stronger and will help you catapult to success in what you want to do."

For the full podcast episode: Click here to listen

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