Four years ago, 24-year-old Alicia Perry boarded a C-130 cargo plane as a senior airman for the Air Force Reserve. She was heading to Afghanistan on her first deployment. For the long flight over she carried a tote stuffed with playing cards and the latest exercise magazines.
There'll be plenty to keep her busy Tuesday as she leaves on her second deployment. She'll be flying the airplane.
Now an officer and sporting her married name on her flight suit, Lt. Alicia Makoutz is the only female pilot in the Minnesota-based Air Force Reserves and one of only a handful flying the large military cargo planes.
She and about 100 other members of the 934th Airlift Wing are scheduled to depart for a 120-day deployment that is likely to include missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The deployment as a pilot fulfills a girlhood dream for Makoutz, whose twin brother is also in the Air Force.
"All growing up, if you asked me what my dream job is, I'd say to be a pilot," she said. "If you asked me now what my dream job would be? To be a pilot. Not many people can say that."
Stationed at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan during her first deployment, Makoutz worked on the ground in aviation resource management — military speak for tracking crew members' training, flight hours and aircraft logs. It was her foot in the door. She learned she was accepted to flight school while in Afghanistan.
There were several flight schools, survival school and officer training school. Her husband, Chris, uprooted his business to be with her during 13 months of pilot schooling in Laredo, Texas.