Michelle Curran, Thunderbird and F-16 Fighter Pilot
Today, my guest is Michelle “MACE” Curran, who led an impressive career as an F-16 fighter pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Flying under the callsign “MACE,” she was the second woman ever to fly in the lead solo position for the Thunderbirds since the team’s founding in 1953.
Before joining the Thunderbirds, Michelle completed high-impact combat missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Through her career, Michelle has logged 1,500 total flight hours with the Air Force, including 163 combat hours in Afghanistan as part of Operations Freedom’s Sentinel and Resolute Support.
Since transitioning out of the military, she has founded her company, Upside Down Dreams, and is committed to empowering men and women of all ages to overcome obstacles and the fear of failure. She has inspired thousands through her passion for breaking barriers and setting the example of what can be accomplished through hard work. Michelle has been featured on several leading media publications and programs, including The Kelly Clarkson Show, CBS Evening News, and Glamour. In 2021, she was named the Distinguished Alumna of the Year by the University of St. Thomas.
In this candid conversation, Michelle shared the real stories behind her unexpected path to the cockpit, the immense physical and mental demands of flying F-16s, and why she ultimately traded the sky for the speaking stage.
1. The Afterburner Epiphany. Michelle revealed that she didn’t grow up dreaming of aviation; she was originally a criminal justice major on an ROTC scholarship whose ultimate goal was to become an FBI agent. However, her trajectory completely changed during a college visit to a Florida military base when she saw two F-15s take off in full afterburner, instantly giving her goosebumps. Despite having absolutely zero civilian flight time and lacking an engineering background, the highly driven thrill-seeker worked relentlessly to secure one of the incredibly rare F-16 slots in her pilot training class.
2. The 9-G Identity Crisis. Discussing the harsh realities of flying, Michelle explained the immense physical toll of pulling up to nine times the force of gravity, which forces blood out of the brain and requires intense physical effort just to stay conscious. However, the mental struggles were often even harder. Accustomed to always being at the top of her academic classes, she experienced a severe identity crisis upon reaching her first combat squadron where she suddenly felt merely “average”. She heavily battled the fear of failure, imposter syndrome, and the intense pressure of being under a microscope in a demanding field that was only 2% female at the time.
3. Vultures and Close Air Support. When recounting her most harrowing moments, Michelle shared a terrifying close call during a Thunderbird practice run in Colombia. While flying nearly 500 miles per hour at just 2,000 feet, she struck a massive vulture that literally punched cookie-cutter-sized holes straight through the metal wing of her jet, narrowly missing her engine. Despite the constant dangers of aviation, she found her actual combat deployments in Afghanistan deeply rewarding. She noted that a combat pilot’s true worst nightmare isn’t personal injury, but rather making a targeting mistake that accidentally costs the lives of the friendly ground forces they are fighting to protect.
4. Stepping Off the Pedestal. After a grueling 13-year military career that left her with chronic daily back pain, Michelle chose to leave the Air Force to become a professional keynote speaker and author. Rather than simply entertaining corporate audiences with cool jet videos, she deliberately steps off the “superhero” pedestal of being a Thunderbird pilot to share highly vulnerable stories about her own deep self-doubt and personal struggles. By actively normalizing fear and imposter syndrome, her ultimate mission is to act as a catalyst that empowers others to confidently chase down their own seemingly impossible dreams
