KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- A New Mexican Native American, Senior Airman Shannon Loveland joined the 150th Operations Support Squadron of the New Mexico Air National Guard.
When asked why she joined the NMANG, Loveland said, “One of the main reasons was I wanted to challenge myself. Joining was something that was really more challenging, especially going to BMT (Basic Military Training).”
Loveland added that community also played a role in her decision to enlist.
“New Mexico is home to me—to give back to my community as well as being a role model for whoever may look up to me and then as well for those in my Native American community,” she said.
Family was another determinant.
“I also heard that the NMANG is more family and a community of people that I can be welcomed into, and I experience that each time that I go up to work,” Loveland said.
With a paternal grandfather who was in the Army, a maternal grandfather in the Marines, cousins in the Marines, and her husband in the Air Force, Loveland definitely comes from a military family.
“I feel very strongly about joining the military and honoring that tradition,” she said.
For the next five years, she has set a high bar for herself.
“I want to obtain my bachelor’s degree, which I am closely doing, and then I want to take and pass the AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualifying Test), with high hopes of going to OTS (Officer Training School). One of my dreams is to be a pilot and fly C-130s,” Loveland said.
“And then hopefully that will get my foot in the door to obtain my master’s degree in Political Science,” Loveland added.