Stephanie Ann Wells

Honored by the Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Department

Paver Inscription:

"Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Geological science program
Patricia Mary Stewart
Karen S. Bartels

Atmospheric science program
Stephanie Wells
Shiyuan Zhong"

Honored by the Aerospace Engineering Department

EDUCATION
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY - B.S. Degree - Meteorology; Minor - Computer Science USAF - Air Command and Staff College Squadron Officer School As of 4 December 84.

OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE
USAFT-38 Instructor Pilot - Williams AFB AZ. (Aug 84 - Presesnt). Conducts USAF Flight training in the advanced T-38 supersonic trainer. USAFWC-130 Aircraft Commander and Instructor Pilot - Andersen AFB Guam. (July 82 - July 84). Commanded and instructed Weather Reconnaissance missions into fully developed typhoons as well as other weather-related research and operational missions. Also managed squadron's training section. (Total WC-130 instructor time - 130 hours).
USAF - T-37 Instructor Pilot - Reese AFB TX (July 79 - May 82). Conducted USAF Flight training in the subsonic T-37 primary trainer. Managed squadron pilot upgrade section as well as serving as T-37 Air Traffic (RSU) controller and supervisor of flying. (Total T-37 instructor time - 1000 hours).
USAF - UNDERGRADUATE PILOT TRAINING - Williams AFB AZ. (Jan 78 - Jan 79). Trained in T-37 and T-38. USAF -
WEATHER FORECASTER - George AFB CA (Sep 75 - Dec 77). Provided mission weather forecasts and briefings for the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. Managed Forecaster section.
CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR - Agana Navy Flying Club Guam. (Jan 83 - Jul 84). Provided part-time flight instruction for private commercial instrument and instructor ratings to club members. (Total civilian instructor time - 160 hours).
GLIDER TOW PILOT - El Mirage Field CA. (Apr - Nov 77). Towed gliders part time for glider school and private individuals. (Total tows - 600).

AWARDS
35TH FLYING TRAINING SQUADRON REESE AFB - Air Force Commendation Medal 54TH
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON ANDERSEN AFB - Air Force Commendation Medal. 54TH
WEATHER RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON ANDERSEN AFB - Two Air Medals. (For 36 typhoon penetrations). 1981 - Chosen as Outstanding Young Woman of America.

PERSONAL DATA
INTERESTS - Home computers, civilian aerobatics, travel, hiking, sailing.
BORN:- May 22. 1953
MARITAL STATUS:-Bloke June 20, 1992

Oct. 1990, A Reserved Flight Schedule The Decision: Weather or Not to Fly, by CMSgt. Vickie M. Graham, Senior Editor, photos by TSgt. Fenando Sema, Assistant Director of Photojoumalism.

Stephanie Wells loves to fly and it shows. Never mind the paraphrased commercial--just put her in the cockpit of say a sassy T-38 jet trainer or a mammoth C-5 cargo carrier -anything that flies - and let her do what she does best: cruise the clouds. She's seen a flood of the ominous dark swirling variety during her flying career, mostly from the controls of a WC- 1 30 "typhoonchaser" over the Pacific. But this didn't provide the varied flight life she craved. So Maj. Stephanie Wells chewed on her options: a.-Keep chasing storm systems. b.-Find another flying job in the Air Force. c.-Become a commercial airline pilot. d.-None of the above. Eventually she chose " d " and landed for her the perfect flying jobs: full-time NASA staff pilot and part-time Air Force Reserve C-5 aircraft commander. Finishing her tour as a typhoonchaser in Guam, the Albuquerque N.M.-born bluesuiter became a T-38 instructor pilot at Williams AFB Ariz. She soon discovered she'd rather poke through charcoal-colored typhoon clouds than zip through balmy blue skies with a student pilot off her wing tip. So she visited the Military Personnel Center at Randolph AFB, Texas, to check her career options. "Frankly, I didn't have many, said the one-time Civil Air Patrol cadet. "And with my background being a T-38 instructor didn't seem like a good career move. " The next day she visited her father in Clear Lake, Texas, near Houston. While there, she talked to her cousin, an astronaut applicant, who arranged a casual chat with NASA's aircraft Operations staff. She applied for a staff pilot position and was interviewed a week later. "I couldn't believe it - the perfect job!" she said between flights at NASA's flight training and maintenance support facility in El Paso, Texas. And flying the C-5 offers an extra dose of aerial variety. "I didn't want to sever my Air Force ties completely," said Major Wells, who is assigned to the 433rd Military Airlift Wing (Reserve) at Kelly AFB, Texas. "Sitting in a cockpit perched 40 feet above the Tarmac proved a bit of a challenge at first, but the C-5 is comfortable" said the trim 5-foot-5 aviator, who has flown missions for Operation Desert Shield. Flying left seat in a C-5 and piloting NASA aircraft, the former George AFB, Calif., weather officer logs about 600 hours a year - or about 2.4 hours a day. Although the 37-year-old major now logs Air Force hours only in C-5s, she flies the T-38 KC-135A G-159 (Gulfstream 1) and G-11159 (Gulfstream 11) for NASA. NASA's KC-1 35 is modified to produce near-zero-gravity conditions. "It's one way we train astro

"Aerospace
Steph Wells
Sheila Widnall
Ann Pellegreno
Susan Pamerleau"