What is it like to be an A-10 Fighter Pilot? Kim “KC” Campbell is a retired Air Force Colonel who served in the Air Force for over 24 years as a fighter pilot and senior military leader. She has flown 1,800 hours in the A-10 Warthog, including more than 100 combat missions protecting troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. She recently released her new book “Flying in the Face of Fear” where she shares aspects of her 24 year career and the lessons learned.
Stories from an A-10 Fighter Pilot
Kim knew starting all the way back in middle school when a teacher told her “It’s good enough for a girl”, that she didn’t want to be just “good enough” at anything. At the time, the career path she planned to take (a fighter pilot) had limits for women and she knew it’d be a tough road to get there– but thankfully she had that fire lit under her that guided her exactly where she was meant to be, a powerhouse woman in a male dominated industry who earned herself the nickname KC or “Killer Chick.”
Kim faced a number of challenges. Not only being one of the first and few women who served as fighter pilots. Also, the unexpected change in the military led to her serving overseas supporting troops on the ground. For me, I served as a ground troop in Afghanistan and when I thought about the pilots who came for air support I didn’t think about the potential for danger they faced as well.
Hearing about Kim’s experience helped me understand the unique challenges that pilots face and the danger that goes into each mission both while training and overseas supporting combat operations.
Flying in the Face of Fear
Kim wrote the stories of her experience along with some of the lessons she learned over her 24 year plus career into a book, Flying in the Face of Fear. I had a chance to read her story and I found it insightful and came away with some key takeaways that I can use today in my life and business. She has a humbleness showing the realities of the challenges while also sharing the accomplishments from her career of being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism after successfully recovering her battle-damaged airplane after an intense close air support mission in Baghdad.
