Nicole Malachowski

Colonel Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.) served for 21 years in the U.S. Air Force before her medical retirement in 2017. A decorated combat veteran, flight commander, instructor pilot and flight lead, she was the first woman selected to fly with the U.S.A.F. Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Thunderbirds. In 2019, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Nicole attended high school in Las Vegas and began flying as a teenager. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in management from the U.S. Air Force Academy and attending flight school in Mississippi, she was selected for the only F-15E Strike Eagle slot allotted to her flight class.

Nicole went on to earn a master’s degree in national security policy from American Military University, and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. As a fighter pilot, she logged more than 2,300 flight hours in six different Air Force aircraft. She flew in 26 combat missions and logged 188 combat hours. Her proudest moment as a pilot was leading the first fighter formation to provide security for Iraq’s historic democratic elections in 2005.

On the ground, Nicole served as a prestigious White House Fellow (2008-2009) and went on to hold two high-level staff assignments at the Pentagon. She became the executive director of the White House’s national Joining Forces initiative, through which she advised former First Lady Michelle Obama and then Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden on topics relating to service members, veterans, and military families.

But Nicole’s military career ended abruptly when a tick-borne illness left her struggling to speak or walk for nearly nine months. It was during this time that she re-envisioned her career as a public speaker and patient advocate for people suffering from tick-borne illnesses.

Today, Nicole has two children with her husband Paul, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. She serves on the board of the LivLyme Foundation and is a patient advisory board member of The Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness.

Throughout it all, she continues to thrive under her personal motto:

“Nobody wants to lead a scripted life.”