Seymour Johnson Reserve philanthropist develops e-course to help others fly

When she was a little girl, Capt. Kristin Bodie, 77th Air Refueling Squadron KC-46A Pegasus pilot, used to lay in the grass with her grandmother on their farm in rural Saluda, South Carolina, and watch the fighter jets from nearby Shaw Air Force Base and McEntire Joint National Guard Base fly overhead, wondering where they were going and what it would be like to fly through the clouds.

Her journey to become an Air Force pilot took years, and she flew all around the world to reach her goal, but Bodie took the things she has learned and developed an online course to help others find their path more easily.

“Girls don’t fly planes”
Bodie remembers sitting in church as young as 5 years old, hearing the preacher talk about serving in the military or as a missionary and thinking, “He’s talking about me. Someday, I am going to leave my family and serve.”

Her love of watching airplanes spurred a strong desire to fly them.