Pilot wins Good Housekeeping award

  • Published
  • By Keith Pannell
  • 27th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  An unwavering faith, a good clean life and a sparkling career -- not necessarily a clean house -- earned a 524th Fighter Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot here a Good Housekeeping award.

Capt. Christina Hopper was presented Good Housekeeping magazine’s Woman in Government Award for 2003 recently and will be featured in the magazine’s July edition.

The award is given to a woman who “has made a significant contribution toward the advancement of women in government.”

Captain Hopper was nominated by base officials here.

“I got a call from the editor at Good Housekeeping telling me I won the grand prize,” Captain Hopper said. “I couldn’t believe I had been selected. I literally trembled for about a half hour after I hung up. Then, I called my family and my squadron commander to let them know.”

Captain Hopper’s husband, Capt. Aaron Hopper an F-15 pilot in the 522nd Fighter Squadron, said he is happy for his wife.

“I am extremely happy for her. It’s a tremendous honor for her to have been selected out of such a qualified pool of nominees,” he said. “I think the attention she has received will prove to be very beneficial for the Air Force by encouraging women and ethnic minorities to pursue their dreams in the military, especially if that includes flying fighters.”

Attention is something he said his wife has not asked for, but has certainly gotten.

In the last year, she has been interviewed by reporters on international news channels and from international magazines. Captain Hopper said she has spoken with Oprah Winfrey and has done countless local interviews.

“Christina never set out to gain recognition or special attention, but many people have been encouraged by the opportunities she has been given by both God and the Air Force,” said her husband.

Captain Hopper said she does not see her faith as a part of her life, rather as the central point in her life. Her call sign, “Thumper,” is not a play on her last name, but a shortened form of “Bible Thumper.”

“I believe every blessing, including this Good Housekeeping award, is a gift from (God),” Captain Hopper said. “My faith gives me the consistent ability to cope with all kinds of stressors.”

She said the biggest stressor is the constant separation from her husband because of demands by their different flying squadrons.

“We are often separated by temporary duty assignments or by opposite flying schedules,” he said. “But our relationship is a blessing and gives both of us strength to focus our efforts at work.”

The fighter pilot duo is to be separated again when she leaves for an instructor pilot assignment at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.

The Good Housekeeping grand prize also came with $25,000.

“We plan to give a portion of the money to the church, and we’ll make a contribution to the squadron,” she said. “We don’t know about the rest yet.”

Captain Hopper was deployed with her squadron in March 2003, when the war in Iraq started. She and the other squadron pilots were bombing targets the second day of the war.

“The desert experience was unforgettable,” she said. “I can look back on that experience with a deep sense of gratitude. I’m grateful to God, who gave the opportunity to take part in such a life-changing and world-changing event.”

She said she also credits the men in the squadron who taught her what she needed to know to stay alive in combat and had enough faith in her to do the job well.

“Christina Hopper is an all around exceptional individual,” said Col. Jeffrey Stambaugh, the 27th Fighter Wing vice commander. “She performed magnificently in war, she’s active and firm in her faith, and she’s a fitness role model. She’s simply a wonderfully talented and hard-working person of great character.”