Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell (born April 20, 1976; Ng A Qui) is a lieutenant colonel in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, and the first female

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

in the history of that service. She flew the

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

during combat missions in

Operation Northern Watch Operation Northern Watch (ONW), the successor to Operation Provide Comfort, was a Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing its own no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq. Its mission began on 1 January 1997. The coalition partn ...

. She is stationed at

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...

where she is a member of the 78th Attack Squadron and serves as an MQ-9 Pilot and Mission Commander. She currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, and works as a course manager and instructor for the Air Liaison Officer Qualification Course, at Creech Air Force Base (

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nevada with 2,265,461 residents as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county is the location of the state's three largest cities, Las Vegas (t ...

Early life and education

Kimbrell was born in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

. The youngest of four children, her mother and father, Eve ( Blackman) Ng A Qui and Dr. Norman Ng A Qui, emigrated to the United States and became naturalized U.S. citizens by the time she was born. The family moved to

Parker, Colorado Parker is a home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous town in the county; Castle Rock is the most populous (the community of Hig ...

, and it was there, while attending fourth grade, that Kimbrell decided to pursue a career as a fighter pilot. She had her first flight lesson at age fourteen, before joining the

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered, federally supported Nonprofit corporation, non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliaries, auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CA ...

, and working at air shows, subsequently earning her private pilot's license. Following graduation from high school, Kimbrell attended the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

, graduating in 1998 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Degree in General

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. After graduation, she subsequently attended Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), and was designated a pilot in August 1999. Kimbrell also holds a Master of Business Administration from Touro University.

Career

Kimbrell received her commission in 1998 after graduating from the USAF Academy, later she attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB (

Val Verde County, Texas Val Verde County is a county located on the southern Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population is 47,586. Its county seat is Del Rio. The Del Rio micropolitan statistical area includes all of Val Verde County. Val ...

) and was awarded her pilot wings in August 1999. She then completed Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals training at Randolph AFB (

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324, making it the st ...

) in November 1999. In August 2000, she graduated from her initial F-16 training at Luke AFB (

Maricopa County, Arizona Maricopa County () is a County (United States), county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the List ...

) becoming the first African American female fighter pilot in the USAF. She was assigned to the 13th Fighter Squadron, Misawa, Japan for her first operational assignment. During this time she was deployed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Northern and

Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of moni ...

. Her flights in Operation Northern Watch marked her as the first female pilot to fly combat missions for Misawa's 35th Fighter Wing. Additionally, during Operation Northern Watch she became the first African American female pilot to employ ordnance in combat. In July 2004, she graduated from the Joint Fire Control Course and was assigned to the 15th Air Support Operations Squadron. Later she deployed as the 2nd Brigade Air Liaison Officer in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

. In June 2007, she was assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano AB Italy where she served as Assistant Director of Operations for the 555 Fighter Squadron. In 2009, Kimbrell relocated to 6th Combat Training Squadron,

Nellis AFB Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

where she served as the Course Manager for the Air Liaison Officer Qualification Course and an instructor. From this assignment, she separated from active duty Air Force and transitioned to the Air Force Reserves in October 2013.

Personal life

Kimbrell is married to Travis Kimbrell and the couple have two sons, Kade and Jakeb.Biography
blackpast.org. Accessed February 21, 2024.

Awards and decorations

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

with one device * Meritorious Service Medal *

Aerial Achievement Medal The Aerial Achievement Medal (AAM) is a decoration of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force which was established in 1988. The decoration is intended to recognize the contributions of aircrew members who would, otherwise, not ...

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

with one device *

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issu ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, a ...

Iraq Campaign Medal The Iraq Campaign Medal (ICM) was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by Executive Order 13363 of U.S. President George W. Bush on 29 November 2004, and became available for general distribution in June 2005. ...

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (GWOT-SM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created through Executive Order 13289 on 12 March 2003, by President George W. Bush. The medal recognizes those military service ...

* Korean Defense Service Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimbrell, Shawna Living people 1976 births 21st-century American women African-American aviators African-American female military personnel African-American United States Air Force personnel African-American women aviators American aviators American people of Guyanese descent American women aviators Aviators from Colorado Military personnel from Colorado Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Indiana People from Parker, Colorado Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force colonels United States Air Force personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Air Force personnel of the Iraq War Women in the Iraq War Women in the United States Air Force Women military aviators