Boundary-Busting Air Force Navigator Turned Author on a Mission to Inspire- Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
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Graciela Tiscareño-Sato is an award-winning author, bilingual public speaker, and passionate storyteller who grew up in Colorado with her her four younger siblings and her parents, who were immigrants from Mexico.
As a kid, Graciela’s family didn’t have the money to get on an airplane but when young Graciela used to see airplanes fly overhead, she always got excited and wondered where they were going.
In high school, Graciela had a career counselor who’s husband was an Air Force Major, and he became Graciela’s mentor to help her go to college and earn her degree. Graciela’s mother cried when Graciela was awarded a scholarship to her dream school because she realized Graciela was going to go to college 1000 miles away. When Graciela went to college, it was with the intention of getting a degree in architecture and being in the civil engineering squadron of the Air Force. Graciela would go on to earn her B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley as an Air Force ROTC scholarship cadet.
Graciela’s first time in an airplane (other than the military jet that transported her to the base) was when a female Air Force instructor pilot, took Graciela up for an orientation flight in a T-37. She saw potential in Graciela partly because Graciela was the first person the instructor took up who did not throw up that day. The instructor encouraged Graciela to tell the staff at her school, that she wanted to fly.
This was the beginning of her career as a navigator in the four-person KC-135 aircrew in the Air Force. Graciela’s experiences and her story blew me away and includes such things as flying fueler aircraft over Baghdad where the mission was to refuel aircraft that would take off from aircraft carriers while trying not to get shot down and coordinating precisely so that they would meet up with perfect synchronization to get the other aircraft fueled, sometimes refueling up to 8 aircraft flying in formation around the tanker. She also learned celestial navigation, and qualified to fly the F-15 2 years before women were allowed by law to fly combat aircraft and MUCH more.
Graciela is a national, sought-after speaker who has presented at numerous conferences to global business audiences, college students, student veterans, educators and parents in the U.S. and Europe.
In 2014, the Obama White House recognized Graciela as a Champion of Change, Woman Veteran Leader for her work raising educational expectations of young Latino students through her award-winning publishing firm, bilingual literature, and public speaking business.
It was a tremendous pleasure to get to spend time with this amazing lady. I hope you enjoy the conversation that I got to have with Graciela Tiscareño-Sato.
Theme music by Diego Jinkus.