Captain Linda Garcia Cubero (born 1958) is a former

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

officer, of Mexican-American- Puerto Rican descent who in 1980 was a member of the first class of women to graduate from the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

. She is the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

woman to graduate from any service academy.

Early years

Cubero's father was a United States Air Force officer of Mexican-American descent and her mother of Puerto Rican ancestry. Her father was a very influential factor in her life and she decided to follow in his footsteps and apply for admission to the United States Air Force Academy. Despite the fact that she ranked 25/485 students in her high school class and that she was a member of the National Honor Society, her guidance counselors told her that she “wasn’t good enough” to make it into the USAFA.

United States Air Force Academy

The United States Air Force Academy, located immediately north of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

in El Paso County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers for the

. Graduates of the four-year program receive a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree and most are commissioned as second lieutenants in the

. On October 7, 1975, President

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

signed legislation permitting women to enter the United States service academies. On June 26, 1976, Cubero was among 157 women to enter the Air Force Academy with the Class of 1980. In 1980, Cubero made history when she became a member of the first class of women to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. There she earned her BS degree in Political Science and her free-fall parachute wings. Upon her graduation she was commissioned a Second Lieutenant.

Military service

Cubero spent the next seven years in the Air Force serving as a command briefer, and on national-level task forces at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

. In 1982, Cubero was the recipient of a

Joint Service Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

for her work with the Pentagon's intelligence task force assigned to the Falkland Island

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

. While serving as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Cubero supervised the development of a United States

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipients to honor Hispanics in America's defense. The stamp was designed by the ten surviving Hispanic Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and unveiled on October 31, 1984. She continued to further her academic education and earned a master's degree in Systems Engineering from

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

.Hispanic Engineer, Retrieved May 12, 2007
/ref> Cubero also served as mentor to Hispanic Air Force cadets and was a volunteer worker in the wider Hispanic community. For her community service she was awarded the 1991 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Pioneer Award.

Military decorations

Among Garcia Cuberos military decorations are the following: *

* National Defense Medal * Air_Force_Training_Ribbon

Air Force Training Ribbon The Air and Space Training Ribbon (ASTR) is the lowest military award of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, ranking only above foreign military awards. The Air and Space Training Ribbon was authorized as the Air Force T ...

Air Force Longevity Service Award The Air and Space Longevity Service Award (ASLSA) is a military award of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force established as the Air Force Longevity Service Award by Air Force General Order 60, on 25 November 1957 by General ...

Badges: *

Parachutist Badge A parachutist badge (or parachutist brevet) is a military badge awarded by the armed forces of many states to soldiers who have received parachute training and completed the required number of jumps. It is difficult to assess which country was the ...

Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

Civilian life

Cubero was honorably discharged from the Air Force with the rank of Captain in 1987. She went to work for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

Aerospace and by 1991 was working as the company's senior systems engineer. Subsequent to GE she worked as Director of Client Relations at Case Corporation in the purchasing group. Cubero then went to work for the Global Purchasing support unit for EDS as the director of software purchasing, directing more than $500 million annually in spending and managing 60 software and technology professionals in four departments. In April 1999, Cubero was named Director of Hardware and Telecommunications Procurement, Global Purchasing support unit of EDS, responsible for managing about $3 billion in annual hardware and software spending. From 2004 to 2007 she was Client Director at Hewlett-Packard Managed Services and is now President of Falcon Cash Investments LLC.

Honors and recognitions

Cubero was awarded the Women of Color Technology Award in 1998. In 1998, Cubero was also inducted into the National Hispanic Engineering Hall of Fame. In 2002, Hispanic Business magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics” in the United States.Defense Dept. Link
/ref>

Note

References

External links

Columbus Air Force Base article "Women: Making advancements for tomorrow"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Cubero, Linda 1958 births Living people United States Air Force officers United States Air Force Academy alumni Puerto Rican women in the military American people of Puerto Rican descent American people of Mexican descent Women in the United States Air Force Systems engineers Puerto Rican military officers Puerto Rican United States Air Force personnel