–Fiona Akoth was raised in Kisumu City but her family migrated to the US when she was 13 years.
-She has over time risen through the ranks from first lieutenant and is now a captain.
-Fiona flies the sophisticated U-28A aircraft and has been previously deployed to Afghanistan, Africa and Iraq.
Akoth was born and raised on the shores of Lake Victoria at the Lakeside City of Kisumu but immigrated to Texas, US at the age of 13 to study.
“I was well engrained in the roots back in Kenya. I had to leave a familiar country with a familiar group of friends when I was just becoming a teenager looking for a solid foundation, and that was challenging,” she was quoted by the military website as saying.
After high school, Akoth faced numerous challenges securing college admissions since her parents lacked enough money. She relentlessly applied for scholarships.
It was during her middle and high school studies at Texas that she got wind of the United States Airforce Academy and how joining it was an uphill task given one had to score good grades to be considered.
It was this time she applied to the US Naval Academy before she finally settled for the Airforce Academy.
She stated that her decision to join the airforce was that she could give back to the community that raised her and to also test the limits.
Growing up, Akoth lived close to the airport and together with her friends, she would watch planes land and depart from the airfield. This fueled her desire to be an airforce pilot.
“It has been my destiny to become a pilot. My grandfather always told me to never give up on my dream and now here I am,” she narrated.
Akoth was drafted to the Language Enabled Airman Program (LEAP), which allows airforce personnel who can speak another language fluently to translate and help build relations with local populations near military instillations because she is fluent in Swahili.
After graduating from the US Airforce Academy, she began training to be an Air Force pilot at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.
In the US Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, a first lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer. It is just above the rank of second lieutenant and just below the rank of captain