What is Civil Engineering in the Air Force like? Christina Mattison served in the USAF for 6 years as a Civil Engineer Officer and is now serving as a Reservist. Nowadays, she is a Heart-Centered Leadership Coach and 500-hour certified yoga teacher. Her experiences as an Air Force officer and military spouse led her to create the Strong and Resilient Woman community – a space for movement, mindfulness, and learning to do better for ourselves. Christina is also the creator of the Lead Your Life movement – a transformational wellness program for female leaders in the military.
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Civil Engineering to Following Her Passion
Christina wasn’t sure what she should do after college and during college learned about ROTC and joined. She commissioned and planned on being a Civil Engineer. It took the Air Force almost a year after graduating before she began her career. By then she was married and living in Florida with her husband who also was serving in the military. She was stationed at Hurlburt Field. And bounced around to the various Civil Engineering flights learning what it meant to be an Air Force Civil Engineer.
Deployment
Her next assignment was Mountain Holm Air Force Base. There she grew into her own as a Civil Engineer and deployed to Al Udeid. There she worked on a number of construction projects. After being deployed for six months she went back to Mountain Holm to continue her career. Then in 2017, it was time for her next assignment. Seymor Johnson. She also was 30 weeks pregnant.
Becoming a mom
Becoming a mom was really challenging for Christina. It was hard to figure out how her new role of mom fit into who she was while also still being an officer in the military. Her story really resonated with me personally. I left the military when my son was born but so much of her story resonated with what I felt. I wrote about my experience here. We discussed how important it is to know who you are and do the hard work to find the answer to those questions if you don’t know the answer.
She transitioned out of the military and switched to the Reserves in 2018. She wanted to provide stability for her family. And she also started working in the Civil Engineer Squadron as a civilian. After 1.5 years she quit that job and started her business. She created a Facebook group: Strong Resilient Women to help other women veterans and service members connect.
