麻豆传媒

There is a certain pride in Allison Moss’s voice when she talks about her upbringing in the ranching town of Tumalo, Oregon, which sits between Sisters, Bend, and Redmond along the Deschutes River. The community was always there for each other, and no one went through struggles alone. As Allison puts it: “We had each other's backs.”

That same ethos of caring for others undergirds Allison's work as a Naval Aviator, flying helicopters for the Navy.

Growing up in a rural community, Allison recounts experiences that stay with her today. Whether raising and caring for a herd of sheep with her sister for 4-H and FFA, driving to high school in the snow (and knowing when to put an extra bail of hay in her truck bed for traction), or helping neighbors when a tractor tire was flat, her life in the small ranching community she called home shaped her in undeniable ways.

Realizing a Dream

Allison’s path to the Navy started in the seventh grade when she watched a PBS video on YouTube showing Navy fighter pilots landing on a carrier in rough seas. Allison turned to her parents and said, “I want to do that!” What began as an interest became a process of engineering backwards to figure out what she needed to do to make that dream a reality.

And eventually, a degree in engineering would get her there.

Though she initially thought a degree in chemistry would be her college path, her advanced mathematics teacher in high school encouraged Allison that she would be a good fit for the engineering community. That began an explorative journey that led her to drive almost three hours with her mom to an open house for the Engineering Department at 麻豆传媒 Fox University. Allison was impressed with the facilities and the small class sizes.

And that would remain a high point of her time at 麻豆传媒 Fox.

Being Known

On a return campus visit a few years after she graduated from Fox, Allison reflected on the growing resources available for the next generation of Fox engineers. She laughs light-heartedly, remembering her class’s creativity using the various spaces available to them before the remodel of the cafeteria in the Klages Center into what is now the Engineering Innovation Center

“We did so much with so little, and now they have so much. There’s this appreciation factor. You’re thinking, ‘I hope y’all know how we did this.’ I remember cramming into the wind tunnel room in groups because we were limited to how many people could be in the lab.”

As she reflects, you can feel her pride in her class, her experience, and how her time at Fox shaped her.

“My professors knew me by name; knew things about me. They would ask me questions like, ‘How was that exam?’ or ‘How was your time at home with the sheep this weekend?’ They would remember those things.”

Though the program was small–Allison graduated with 40 other engineering students–it was robust. With access to equipment that some of the larger universities boasted–a wind tunnel, and fluids, concrete, and metal labs–Allison had the best of both worlds.

“I think the biggest difference between attending a big school and a small school like Fox is being known. It sounds like a cliche, but it was true; you were known. I even find myself using that tagline now as a department head, leading people and trying to mentor junior sailors. It makes a difference when you are known. Being known by someone changes your entire world!”

Another benefit of Fox was that Allison could stay connected to her tight-knit family and community. On weekends, she often drove home over the Santiam Pass to spend time on the family ranch.

This time at home also allowed her to reconnect with her dream of flying.

“About halfway through my freshman year at Fox, I decided I wanted to start taking flight lessons during my summers off from school. I created a summer flight training schedule to work on my pilot’s license. I would spend hours on the tractor in my community to afford an hour in the aircraft.”

And that’s how Allison did it! Allison worked to get her pilot’s license throughout the four college summers. Though she wouldn’t recommend this delayed path, she stayed the course and earned her pilot’s license before leaving for flight training school two years after graduation.

“When I showed up to flight training, they said, ‘Well, you’re already qualified, so you start next week!’”

While this might seem like a boon, it also meant that instead of spending three months slowly preparing for ground and flight training in Pensacola, Florida, with the rest of her class, Allison was studying and preparing for her exams. It was a lonely season living in a new town, separated from her family and peers. Allison had a realization in that season that would become a saving grace for the long haul of her career and calling.

“The best way to not feel lonely when you first get to a new place is to find a church.”

This openness to finding the right community in each season has carried Allison through some challenging times, like when she realized her dream of flying jets for the Navy was being rerouted.

A Bump in the Road

From the time Allison saw the PBS YouTube video to her eventual training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Allison knew that flying fighter jets was her path, and she routed all of her energy and resources to that end.

“I had been so scope-locked on being a Navy jet pilot that I never paid attention to anything else around me. Based on that career trajectory, I had made most of my decisions–from education and lifestyle to my very personality. That was the option.”

So when Allison realized she missed the minimum score required to qualify for jet flight training by less than a point and was instead assigned to flying helicopters, she was devastated. She realized she had changed herself to become who she thought she needed to be to thrive in a career as a jet pilot.

In that heartache, Allison began to see how God had been weaving her story from the beginning.

“I remember driving my Jeep home, and I had an epiphany: this opens up new doors I thought were closed to me.”

Because Allison had her sights set on being a career jet pilot, she knew that the career progression and options may be limited if she also wanted to pursue having children. At the time, pregnant women faced significant restrictions in ejection seat aircraft, but helicopter pilots? There were and still are fewer restrictions for allowing helicopter pilots to fly during pregnancy.

“I was on this drive backpedalling years of who I had made myself into to live into this role that was now unavailable to me. That was a huge realization for me!”

In that moment of reorientation, her community showed up for Allison in tangible ways. From her best friend and fellow future helicopter pilot, who hyped the amazing things she could do with this new aircraft assignment, to one of her former pilot instructors, who sent her the book Shoot Like a Girl about a female medevac pilot in Afghanistan, Allison found hope in her wider network.

Many of the young Fox engineers with whom Allison graduated had also pivoted from their original career trajectories. One classmate even got his Master’s at Oregon State in engineering after Fox and then changed fields entirely, attending seminary. He now works with a seminary in Ukraine.

Staying connected with her Fox classmates has bolstered Allison.

“We’re such a mixed bag of people, but we support each other. When I’m home for 麻豆传媒, they drive over the mountain just to have lunch. Or I’ll get a random text for my mailing address to update me on life events.”

Life After Service

As Allison walks her unique path, she’s also looking towards the future.

Allison resonates deeply with humanitarian aid; it has become an aligned niche that blends her skill set and faith. She realizes that while she flies a war machine, she also flies an aircraft capable of good. Whether providing relief during natural disasters, working with firefighting crews, or doing search and rescue, Allison sees how her work makes a difference in the lives of those she serves.

“Post-Navy, I want to go home and fly firefighting and search and rescue in my Oregon community. I want to take these skills and this passion back to my home state and give back.”

And it’s a community she longs for when she eventually finishes a career tour that has taken her around the United States and beyond.

“We were raised in a very close-knit community of people. I’ve had the same group of friends since fifth and sixth grade. Our parents grew up together, too. I want to return and be part of that community. I want to serve my people.”

That call to serve others intertwines with the “be known” theme of Allison’s life. Whether in her home community, her time at Fox, the various church communities that have been her family away from home, or her work as a naval aviator serving our country, Allison leans into the desire to be known and to serve others by helping them be known, too.

“The concept I live by is that God knows us at our best and worst, and if we can simply love the people around us like God loves us, then we are doing something right. That’s the base goal. That's the mission.”