Pilot named WHM person of the week

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Marilyn Kott
  • Travis’ Women’s History Month Committee
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Travis’ Women’s History Month Committee selected an officer from the 9th Air Refueling Squadron to be its “person of the week.” 

Capt. Allison Hahn, 9th ARS chief pilot, joined the Air Force because she enjoyed the challenge it offered. She was already somewhat familiar with the Air Force through her father, an Air Force officer who was stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Once while she was visiting him, he took her to visit the U.S. Air Force Academy – she was hooked. 

After graduating in the USAFA class of 1996, the Lawrenceville, Ga., native attended pilot training at Vance AFB, Okla., and later taught undergraduate pilot training herself as a T-37 instructor pilot. She then moved to McGuire AFB, N.J., where she joined the Air Mobility Command community, flying the KC-10 Extender. Now at Travis for just under a year, she is already a KC-10 instructor pilot. 

Captain Hahn has flown air refueling missions supporting a wide range of activities. Like many of her fellow pilots and boom operators, she’s flown missions in support of Global War on Terrorism, operating the KC-10 over Afghanistan and Iraq. What surprised her the first time that she flew over those combat areas was the length and complexity of the SPINs, which are special instructions the crews have to follow in order to execute war time missions. It adds a whole new complexity to flying operations, but is critical to success — keeping allied pilots safe and the mission coordinated. 

Her favorite mission at Travis so far has been a capstone mission that she and her crew of professionals from the “Mighty 9th” flew. The capstone passengers included 19 generals and general selects, who were traveling throughout Southeast Asia to meet national and military leaders, building working relationships with those leaders. The mission required the crew to carefully coordinate with the many embassies involved, but also offered some terrific rewards. The crew was able to visit Tiananmen Square and tour the Great Wall of China. 

The same enjoyment of a challenging job that made her decide to join the Air Force made her appreciate the time she spent recently at the combined air operations center in Southwest Asia. Captain Hahn was assigned to duties on the Combat Operations floor for a 120-day Air Expeditionary Force rotation. She describes her job in the Tanker Execution cell as “challenging, fast-paced, and high stress but very rewarding because you are bringing the mission to fruition.” 

Captain Hahn says that her mother has been and is a great inspiration in her life. Her mother taught her to believe in herself and to believe in her dreams. When asked to offer advice to young people today, Captain Hahn echoes what she learned from her mother, “Put efforts toward your goals and you will achieve them. And don’t let anyone else tell you that you can’t.”