Stephanie Garcia

Steph is probably the hardest working individual I know. Her dream of being a military pilot started at the age of 4, when her dad took her to an air show in Okinawa, Japan while stationed there with the Marine Corps. Since then, all she has ever wanted to do was fly military planes.

Steph attended Texas A&M University as a walk on track athlete. She knew her dreams of flying would come at a price since she didn’t enter into the ROTC program, or a service academy. For two years, she tried to join the Marine Corps on an air contract, trying to become a Marine like her father. That would never materialize with the air contracts going to ROTC, Service Academy cadets etc. So she pivoted, and started looking around. The Army said she could join their warrant officer flight training program, but that it would be a year long wait, so she kept looking. The Texas Army National Guard came along, and told her they would put her into a flight program. She joined, assessed for the program, and was accepted as pilot candidate.

Steph attended basic training, and then went to OCS at Fort Benning, where she fractured her ankle. She returned home, and in 2012, was sent to 15T – UH60 Helicopter repairer school, in preparation to become a warrant officer instead. After graduating, she had her daughter, Macy, and flew as a crew chief supporting counter drug missions and state Guard missions for Texas. In 2013, she decided it was time to jump to the front seat again.

Steph attended warrant officer candidate school in 2014, and subsequently the U.S. Army Initial Entry Rotary Wing Training in Fort Novosel, Alabama. She graduated qualified in the UH-60 A/L, and then transitioned immediately into the UH-60M. Steph did all of this as a single mom. She took a 2.5 year old to Army flight school, and made it work. She never complained or gave up, never failed a check ride or test, and persevered.

However, that wasn’t even the beginning of her struggles. Immediately following the final check ride in the UH-60 A/L, Steph woke up and lost all use of her left arm. The doctors found out that she had not only blown a disc out in her neck, but had disc disease throughout. They managed to get her to where she regained enough use of her left arm to finish the mike model transition, and sent her home. However, during the MRI, a suspicious image was seen on her thyroid. A biopsy was done, which came back inconclusive.

Fast forward to returning to Texas. Steph endured significant tests, and found out that not only did she have major c-spine issues, but also was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that had spread to nearby lymph nodes. She endured three surgeries in 6 months, plus a round of radioactive iodine to beat the cancer, and fix her spine issues.

Most people would have quit by now, but not Steph. She fought for waivers, and a year after her final surgery, was back flying UH-60’s. Her story doesn’t end there. In 2019, a call was made asking for pilots to volunteer to fly Apaches for a deployment. Not being one to be outdone, Steph volunteered to return to Fort Novosel, and completed the AH-64D Longbow course. She returned to Texas under the 1-149th AHB located at Ellington Field. While the deployment was subsequently canceled, Steph continued driving 3 hours one way from Austin, along with being a mom and working a full time civilian job, to continue to fly.

In 2020, more c-spine issues appeared. Steph went back to the doctor, who said that her spine had degenerated to the point there were no conservative options other than fusing three of her vertebrae together. Because this was the only fix, and thinking that Fort Novosel doctors would waiver the surgery, she went through with it. After surgery, she found out that the Army would no longer allow her to fly helicopters, and was going to medically retire her due to her injuries. Seeing the writing on the wall, Steph began pursuing her second childhood dream – becoming an airline pilot.

Not having a GI bill due to the way time is counted as a Guardsman, Steph paid for all her ratings out of pocket vs doing things for herself. She knew this would make her daughters life better, and threw everything she had into it. She flew as often as she could, usually dropping her daughter off at school and immediately driving to the Georgetown airport for lessons before having to start her civilian job.

Not only did Steph pursue her passion for flying, but also found a passion in working dogs. Steph started RGR Malinois to provide working dogs to law enforcement agencies. While not her main source of income nor having a huge presence, she has sent multiple dogs to agencies who may not have been able to afford them otherwise. Most notably is K-9 Ivan – a police K9 with Anderson PD in California. Ivan’s accolades speak for themself, including being a Shasta County S.W.A.T. K-9 with his former partner.

Steph finished her ratings in 2022, and was hired on to fly 737’s for a charter airline out of Florida beginning June of ’22. She moved with her daughter to Florida, and hired a nanny to help with her daughter as she had no family anywhere nearby. In 2023, after flying as often as possible to get her hours up, she was hired by Southwest Airlines as a first officer on the B-737. Not long after that, a legacy airline called and offered her an interview. Knowing this was the chance of a lifetime, she took the interview to at least see what they had to say.

Steph was hired by Delta Air Lines in October of 2023 to fly the B-757 and B767-300 aircraft, where she continues to fly to this day. She still lives in Florida and commutes to New York for work, but manages to take plenty of time out to take her daughter fishing, hunting, on vacations etc. If anyone is deserving of this, it’s her.

Her story is one of perseverance and never giving up in the face of adversity. I am happy to nominate her for Bucks for the Brave.