Lt. Col. Angela Ochoa said every assignment she’s had in the Air Force has been her favorite, but her latest one really takes the cake.
Last month, Ochoa was named commander of the 61st Airlift Squadron, also known as the Green Hornets, at the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville. The squadron provides tactical support through the aerial delivery of supplies and equipment to combatant commanders around the globe.
“I’m still trying to learn the people and learn how we do things around here, and it’s been fun,” said Ochoa, who was previously the chief of safety for the 314th Airlift Wing at the base. “I’ve only been in the job a week, and I can tell you that this is already the best job I’ve ever had in the Air Force.”
Ochoa, a Lakeside Park, Kentucky, native, said she didn’t even know the Air Force existed until she was 16 years old, the age at which she baby-sat for a neighbor who was a United States Air Force Academy liaison officer and a Delta pilot.
“One day, he was working on his roof, and my mom and I went out to the car, and he said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come over sometime? I want to tell you about the Air Force Academy.’ And I said to my mom, ‘I have no idea what that is, but I don’t want to do it,’” Ochoa said.
Despite her disinterest, the neighbor eventually shared stories with her about his military career and suggested she attend a summer program at the academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to get a feel for it. The summer between her junior and senior year of high school, Ochoa attended a summer scientific seminar there and fell in love with the Air Force.
“What I really liked about it was the fact that I met a group of people that were highly motivated; they were all dedicated to trying to support one mission, and they all had the same central purpose in mind,” she said. “They all lived by a set of core values: integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do. Because of that, I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Ochoa was accepted into the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she received her commission in 2001 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. During her junior year at the academy, she heard a speech from Gen. Mark Welsh, who retired as the Air Force’s chief of staff this year, that inspired her to consider becoming a pilot.
“It was after that that I thought, ‘I think I might actually want to do this flying thing,’” she said.
Since then, Ochoa has spent anywhere from eight months to 3 1/2 years in locations such as Del Rio, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Elmendorf, Alaska, furthering her education and training. She learned to fly C-130H, C-130E and C-130J aircraft. She also served two years on the joint staff at the Pentagon and a year as an Air Force fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
She’s even been assigned to the Little Rock Air Force Base on more than one occasion.
“I knew I’d end up in Arkansas,” she said. “We have a saying: ‘All roads lead to Little Rock.’ That’s the saying in the C-130 community. I knew we would start here, and I knew that we would be back here at some point.”
Her husband, who proposed to her during their senior year at the academy, has also been along for the journey.
“My husband and I were very fortunate that we were able to get assignments together, basically, for the duration of our career,” said Ochoa, who noted that Arkansas is also special to her because she and her spouse, Raul, had their first child in the state.
“We had really good leaders who helped take care of us,” Ochoa said.
Since the mission of her squadron is to generate combat airlift for the whole world, Ochoa said, her job is to ensure the completion of that mission.
“We always have to be ready because in a moment’s notice, anybody can call and ask for us, and the Green Hornets can stand up, and we’ll go,” she said. “That is our job. We always have to be ready to go, so we train for that.”
Leaders in the Air Force must embody its core values of “integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do,” Ochoa said.
“I think the Air Force does a good job of choosing leaders who do embody those core values,” she said. “I also think you have to be highly motivated; you really do. The good news is we have a lot of leaders who are really motivated, and they want to work hard, and they want to take care of the people. And you have to be a team player. You really have to work well with others and figure out how to make it happen.”
For the squadron, some missions — which are currently taking place in countries such as Afghanistan — take weeks of preparation, whereas others just take a few hours. The squadron’s tactical airlift provides three main services: air land, air drop and aeromedical evacuation.
“Some of those locations are dirt strips in the middle of nowhere, 3,000 feet, and those are the cool missions; those are my favorite,” she said.
In 2015, the 61st Airlift Squadron took home the General Joseph Smith Trophy for the most outstanding airlift squadron in Air Mobility Command.
“I am fortunate that I took over the best airlift squadron, but my goal and my vision is to continue to make it better,” she said. “No matter what, my opinion is even when you’re the best, you can still be better. You always have room to improve.”
She said the partnerships that exist between the community and the base are unique.
“This base and the community that surrounds this base, all of Little Rock — I have never seen anything like it,” she said.
When her family experienced medical challenges, Ochoa witnessed how capable her community is of providing tremendous support. In 2009, at the age of 30, Raul had a heart attack that resulted in him being medically separated from the Air Force. Ochoa said it was a blessing in disguise because shortly after that, she became pregnant with her first child, and Raul became a stay-at-home father.
“He absolutely had the tougher job,” she said.
In September 2014, Raul experienced sudden cardiac arrest, and his heart stopped for more than 20 minutes, Ochoa said.
“He now suffers from the result of an anoxic brain injury,” she said. “So he has a lot of lingering medical issues: He’s legally blind; he has some problems with motor control and coordination, speech and some memory issues as well.”
Ochoa said medical professionals have noted that it is a miracle that Raul survived. He is still an engaged stay-at-home dad, she said.
While Raul received therapy away from home for a year, many people figured Ochoa would just leave the Air Force — but that didn’t cross her mind.
“I have friends all over this world. I have friends everywhere. I might not get to see them every day, but I know that they would be here in a heartbeat — and they were here in a heartbeat, when everything happened, for my family,” she said. “I called them up, and I said, ‘Hey I need some help.’ And they flew in from all over to help us out because that’s the type of support that we get.”
She said the support inspired her to want to remain in the Air Force even more.
“I want to make sure that the system we have right now and this amazing support that we have continue to endure, and I want to make sure that I can do that for somebody else,” she said.
Ochoa, who lived in Sherwood when previously assigned to the Little Rock Air Force Base, currently lives on base. Though she’s spending a lot of time on base now with her transition to commander, she said she and her family are active in the community.
“We are absolutely out in the community,” she said. “My kids, they go take swimming lessons at the Jacksonville Community Center, and we like to get out and about and go see things. We’re off base quite a bit.”
Because her family — and many military families — move so often, the experience of making friends and building relationships can be different than it is for nonmilitary families, she said.
“When somebody moves in next door, you go meet your neighbor, and you welcome them with open arms,” she said. “And you realize that it might only be for a year or two, but you’re going to make the most of those relationships, and you’re going to get to know people.”
While learning more about others is key, Ochoa said, it’s also important to take care of the airmen and their families. She said she still sees herself being a leader in five years.
“As long as I’m able to lead our airmen and take care of people, then I’m going to be happy,” she said.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.