A Pueblo-raised woman made history by climbing to the highest rank ever achieved by a Hispanic female officer in the Air Force, ultimately logging official travel across 63 countries before retiring. Her story has returned to public attention this Hispanic Heritage Month as Colorado Springs organizations continue honoring her legacy.
She graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1984, one of only the fifth group of women ever to complete the program there. Her career included directing the Air Force's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance enterprise, holding senior posts at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and counseling three Secretaries of Defense along with the Director of National Intelligence.
The aspiration behind that career surfaced when she was 13, during a family outing to the Academy where she watched cadets march — a sight that sparked a determination that did not waver even when a relative noted that women had not yet been permitted to graduate from the institution. She recalled announcing to her family that she intended to stand among those marching cadets, and when her uncle voiced skepticism, she told him simply, "just watch me."
Her grandparents had emigrated from Mexico to Colorado, and family members who put down roots in southern Colorado labored at the Pueblo steel mill, instilling in her a foundation built on integrity. Earlier in her service, she permitted colleagues to abbreviate her surname to "UV" because the full name posed pronunciation challenges — a concession she reconsidered after reaching the rank of brigadier general. "When I did that I really gave up my heritage," she said, and that recognition led her to publicly reclaim her family name as a way of demonstrating what Hispanic servicemembers are capable of achieving.
She has been clear that advancing through the officer ranks was never her driving motivation; her focus remained on the people who served alongside and beneath her. "I never thought that I would be a general officer," she said, adding, "the opportunities they presented to me in my career, I visited 63 countries. I went everywhere. Who would have thought this young kid growing up in Pueblo, Colo., would go to 63 countries? And yes, it had a lot of responsibilities, but the responsibilities were to the people who served."
In 2024, she was among the inaugural recipients of the Profiles in Valor award, a distinction created by the Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to honor Latino veterans for both their military records and their contributions to the broader community. She used the recognition to broaden her message beyond military service, saying, "The opportunities in the community and the military are huge, and it doesn't have to be the military — be a first responder, be a policeman, be an ambulance driver, be a paramedic. I mean that's all part of Profiles in Valor. It's about giving back to the community."
The Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has scheduled its next Profiles in Valor Awards Dinner for Nov. 11, 2026, continuing the tradition of recognizing Latino veterans for service to both the nation and local communities. Whether the Chamber has yet identified honorees for that ceremony has not been announced.