Olga E. Custodio is a former United States Air Force officer who is best known for being the first Hispanic woman to complete U.S. Air Force military training pilot training and becoming the first female Hispanic United States military pilot. Custodio was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1953. Custodio’s father was a sergeant in the United States Army and was often stationed in various countries in which the United States had military installations in. Custodio and the rest of the family would relocate with him as he would be assigned to different military stations around the world. For that reason, Custodio started primary education in Taiwan, then head to New Jersey followed by a move to Iran and Paraguay. When Custodio’s father retired from the army, they moved back to Puerto Rico. Custodio was 15 at the time her family returned to Puerto Rico, but she had already seen the world at a young age. Custodio graduated high school at the age of 16 and was accepted to attend the University of Puerto Rico. The feeling she had while flying and traveling along with father’s career had influenced her own choice of career, she wanted to join the military. While at the University of Puerto Rico, Custodio had applied to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program but was denied because the program only accepted men at the time. After graduating with a Bachelor of Art degree from the University of Puerto Rico at a young age, Custodio worked different jobs before landing a job in the accounting department of Puerto Rico International Airlines. Here she would meet Edwin Custodio and would get married four months later, having two children together. Custodio would attempt to be accepted into the United States Air Force Officer Training School but was denied twice acceptance into the program. After the birth of her first child, Custodio would accept a job with the United States Department of Defense in Panama. However, Custodio never gave up on her dream and with the support of her husband she applied to the to the Air Force Officer Training School for the third time. Things were different the third time around as she was accepted as a pilot candidate to become a United States Air Force pilot. In 1980 Custodio entered the Flight Screening Pilot Officer Training School. Upon completion she entered Officer Training School and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Custodio qualified for the Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas and graduated the following year, becoming the first Latina to complete the United States Air Force military pilot training. Custodio’s first military assignment was as pilot instructor at Laughlin Air Force Base. There she became the first female Northrop T-38 Talon, a two-seat twin jet supersonic jet trainer, UPT flight instructor. During one of her flight in bad weather, a bird had struck the engine of her plane. A cool head and excellent piloting skills helped her overcome the emergency and safely land the plane. Because of her actions, the Air Force and awarded her the Headquarters Air Education and Training Command’s Aviation Safety Award for superior airmanship. A later assignment had Custodio assigned to Randolph Air Force Base where she became the first female T-38 instructor pilot. Custodio retired from the Air Force in 2003, after serving in the military for 23 years and 10 months. Custudio retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colenel. During her career she also served as Pilot Instructor Training; T-41 Flight Screening - Operations Officer and Check Pilot. While serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, Custodio was hired by American Airlines as a commercial pilot. She was one of the first Latina commercial airline captains. Custodio retired from American Airlines in 2008, with over 11,000 flight hours. Today Custodio is Vice President of the Hispanic Association of Aviation and Aerospace Professionals (HAAAP). The organizations take students of all ages in the San Antonio and surrounding areas to tours of airplanes and control towers to offer more career opportunities in aviation and aerospace.