165th Air National Guard names its first black female pilot

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTGS) — February is Black History Month, and history continues to be made in the Coastal Empire.

The 165th Air National Guard in Savannah has named First Lieutenant Thessa Washington as its first black female pilot.

Lieutenant Washington is now qualified to operate the C-130H aircraft and says her path to where she is today was unlike most, but she does not regret any parts of it.

“It was really just a thing of trying to progress my career and my life, and it turns out I was the first,” Lieutenant Washington said.

Washington began her military career as a structural maintainer, but before that, she attended Georgia Southern and says she was like any normal college student trying to figure out her life.

That is when she decided to enlist during her junior year.

“When I got older, I didn’t know that I could go to school and be in the military at the same time until a friend of mine told me that she was in the military,” she said.

Washington graduated and worked at Gulfstream before making the military transition full-time.

She also says she did co-pilot training for nine months in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is where she took one her first C-130H flights.

“It was a little intimidating when I first sat in the seat, but the most exhilarating at the same time because somebody as small as me that had to get a height waiver is flying these huge planes,” she said.

She also explains the last few years of her life have been full of some of her favorite experiences.

“Using my degree, traveling the world, staying in Savannah, becoming an officer, piloting was the way to go and I fell in love with it,” she said.

She also says that to be in the discussion of “firsts” during Black History Month is something she will always hold dear to her.

“To make history and for it to be of some significance, and to inspire others is beyond what I could’ve ever dreamed of,” she said.

Lieutenant Washington says she is qualified on the aircraft but is currently still in training to become mission qualified.