EXTRAORDINARY ALUM Gina Stramaglio
• BS ‘98, JFRC ‘98 • PILOT, U.S. AIR FORCE
astronaut or a doctor. So I started down one of those paths, but ended up on the other.”
INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER • It took Stramaglio about six months to take all of her flight tests. She’s now flown four different aircraft and completed 12 deployments for the Air Force. She’s been all over the world, from Afghanistan to Iceland, participating in medical evacuations and the transport of important military and civilian leaders.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME • Stramaglio happened to be in Haiti on the day of its disastrous earthquake. She was there to drop off a general for a diplomatic discussion. ”Seeing what was happening, we couldn’t fly out empty,” she recalls. “I said, ‘Who can we take?’ We took a woman who had fractured both legs out on Medivac, even though we weren’t prepared.”
Air Force pilot Gina Stramaglio (BS ‘98, JFRC ‘98) flashes a smile from the cockpit.
A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE • Gina Stramaglio, as a senior biology major, had already been accepted to medical school. Then she spent spring term at the John Felice Rome Center. “I took a class on World War II in which veterans came to talk to us about their experiences, and we visited World War II sites,” says Stramaglio. “I still remember where they took us and what they said. They thanked us for the services of the American soldier.” She decided to join the Air Force as a pilot instead.
ONE OF THESE TWO THINGS • “I’d always wanted to fly,” says Stramaglio. “When I was little, I said I wanted to be an
JOB SATISFACTION • “I’m grateful to have the opportunity to serve in the military,” says Stramaglio. “I feel that we contribute to the world, to the country, and to future generations. There’s a sense of purpose. Not that I wouldn’t have that as a doctor, but I love this job. It’s exciting and fun. And it’s a lifelong learning process, about missions, techniques, and tactics. We deploy a lot, but the rest is more than I could have hoped for.”
SO, NO DISNEYLAND? • “I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” says Stramaglio. While on a rare break from deployment, she recently took a vacation—to scuba dive with great white sharks as part of a conservation trip with a group of biologists.
FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE • When asked how long she thinks she’ll continue to be a pilot, Stramaglio replies without hesitation: “I’ll fly until the last day they let me get into an airplane.”
FALL / WINT ER 2010
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