Ask any young boy or girl what they want to be when they grow up and you get all kinds of answers. Childhood dreams rarely come to fruition in adulthood, mainly because interests change and the old dreams are often forgotten. Then again, sometimes we find our true callings in our young adulthood. Something grabs us and we go for it and it makes all the difference in our lives. That was the case for Air Force Major Kristin Wolfe.

Wolfe grew up a “military brat” as her father was a career Air Force fighter pilot. Like all military brats, she grew up moving from base to base as her dad’s promotions and duties would have it, but she didn’t really begin to think about his job, or actually becoming a pilot herself, until she was a student in chemical engineering at the University of Alabama. It was there that the idea took hold and she embraced it.

When she told her parents of her desire to become a pilot, she says that her dad was thrilled.

Photo: Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor JSOH, Wikimedia Commons / Rob Shenk, License: CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
Air Force Major Kristin Wolfe became an F-22A Instructor Pilot in 2017.

Wolfe entered the Air Force in 2011 after completing the USAF Reserve Officer Training Program and graduating with a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering. She was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on May 25, 2011 and began her pilot training at Laughlin AFB in Virginia. She went on to advanced fighter pilot training at Tyndall AFB in Florida where she trained in the F-22A basic course.

She proved to be a gifted pilot and from March of 2014 to April of 2017, Wolfe became an F-22A Instructor Pilot at Langley AFB in Virginia. Then, in April 2017, she transitioned to Eglin AFB in Florida for training in the F-35A. The following September until March of 2020 she was an F-35A Instructor and Evaluator Pilot at Hill AFB in Utah. She was made the commander of the the Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team Commander at Hill and continues in that leadership position to this day.

Photo: 15-5138 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II - 15-5119 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II (26794596469), Wikimedia Commons / Tomás Del Coro, License: CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
Major Wolfe has also served as an F-35 Instructor and Evaluator Pilot.

As a retired teacher of literature, I found her call sign both clever and brilliant. What is her call sign? “Beo”, as in the Anglo Saxon hero, Beowulf. It was a great play on her Wolfe family name. Like the Anglo Saxon hero, Beowulf, as the first female Commander of the elite Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, she is both the leader of an small, elite, and important Air Force team of warriors, and she is a hero for girls and young women to look up to and to emulate as they strike out in pursuit of their own dreams.

Wolfe has over 800 flying hours under her belt in both the F-22 A and the F-35A Lightning II. She enjoys her role both as a leader of this elite Air Force unit and for the fact that it gives her the opportunity to meet and encourage young girls and women to believe that they too can do this. Women make up only 4% of the pilots in the USAF. Her role as the Commander of this elite Air Force Squad with its public role in flying at air shows and events like a flyover of the Super Bowl, makes a real statement about the capabilities of women in the military.

Photo: U.S. Air Force / 388th Fighter Wing, License: Public Domain
Major Kristin Wolfe has over 800 flying hours under her belt in both the F-22 A and the F-35A Lightning II.

Wolfe, was promoted to Major on April 1, 2021 when she took command of this unit. Over her time in the Air Force she has received the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Unit Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border, and the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon.

As you will see in this video, Major Kristin “Beo” Wolfe is the personable, confident and capable leader of one of the most elite units in the United States Air Force. We honor and respect her for her dedication to excellence as a fighter pilot and leader in the USAF, and thank her for her service to the nation as one of the Air Force's best fighter pilots. Fly, Fight, Win!

https://youtu.be/wZ10EENGQRc