Meet the Air Force’s first Black female fighter pilot

Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Rochelle Kimbrell said there was no mystery about what career path she would pursue as she grew into adulthood.

“I started out being attracted to space, defying gravity,” she said.

Kimbrell, the Air Force’s first Black female fighter pilot, is a native of Lafayette, Indiana whose parents emigrated to the United States from South America before she was born. The family moved to Parker, Colorado, where Kimbrell decided she wanted to pursue a career as a fighter pilot while in the fourth grade.

“I had my first flying lesson when I was 14,” she said.

Kimbrell joined the Civil Air Patrol while in eighth grade and worked at air shows before earning her private pilot’s license.

“My parents were supportive,” she said.

Kimbrell applied to both the United States Naval Academy and the United States Air Force Academy while in high school and was surprised when she was accepted into both.

“The Naval Academy actually accepted me first,” she said. “I had to sit down and say `what is my ultimate goal?’”

The idea of space and becoming an astronaut still beckoned, leading Kimbrell to accept her appointment to the AFA.

“Not all astronauts go into space,” she said. “I learned that fighter jets are the next best thing and I reverse-engineered my life to get into that. Having my pilot’s license at the Academy gave me peace of mind.”

Kimbrell graduated in 1998 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering. She then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, becoming a pilot in 1999.

“My thing is to kind of go against the grain,” she admitted. “That kind of marked me as the first Black female to fly fighters.”

Kimbrell has sat behind the controls of T37s, T38s, and the F16. While she said she was aware of being a woman of color and breaking barriers, that was not necessarily at the top of her mind daily.

“At the end of the day, I can control what I can control,” Kimbrell said.

By 25 and with her career in full swing, Kinbrell said she discovered something else: Returning to an empty house at the end of the day left her feeling lonely.

“I was going to fly until I die,” she said. “Then, I thought maybe there was more out there.”

That’s when fate stepped in. While stationed in Saudi Arabia, Kimbrell was approached for a date by a fellow service member who would ultimately become her husband. Rochelle and Travis Kinbrell will mark their 19th wedding anniversary this month and have two sons, Kade, 17 and Jakeb, 13.

The family moved to Monument, Colorado in 2018. Retired now after 22 years in the Air Force, Kimbrell is a self-employed public speaker, civilian flight instructor, and independent contractor instructor at the Air Force Academy’s Aero Club.

“The sky is not the limit,” she stressed. “Surround yourself with the people who are going to be on your side.”

Kimbrell was also recently honored as a 2023 Amway Hero for her contributions to the Monument community.

Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com .