Jeanine McIntosh Menze pilots US Coast Guard to important firsts

Jeanine McIntosh Menze inked her way into the annals of history, becoming the first black female aviator in the history of the United States (US) Coast Guard.

McIntosh Menze was born in Kingston, Jamaica and spent her earlier days as a student at Vaz Preparatory School. She migrated to Canada with her family before moving to South Florida. McIntosh Menze graduated from Miami Killian High School in May 1997 and Florida International University in May 2001 with an International Business Degree.

With studies out of the way, McIntosh Menze took professional flying lessons at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and served as a flight instructor at Opa-Locka Airport in Florida.

In pursuit of her dreams, she advanced her skills through a highly specialised course at the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School and joined the US Coast Guard in 2003.

In 2005, she began Coast Guard aviation training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas where she was the only black woman.

“When I went through Navy Flight School (since the Coast Guard doesn’t have its own flight training program) I was the only Black female on the whole entire base,” Menze said on a zoom call with Legacy Flight Academy.

“How that played into my own personal psyche was challenging. I started personally second-guessing myself.”

Still, McIntosh Menze became the U.S. Coast Guard’s first Black female aviator. She earned her aviator wings on June 24, 2005, and was assigned to fly HC-130 Hercules aircraft out of Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.

“I realised that even though the numbers might be intimidating, you have to push through. The opportunities are there, and if anyone else has a problem, that’s their problem. I’m not going to put a barrier in what I can accomplish,” McIntosh Menze declared.

From rescue missions in New Orleans to attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 2017, McIntosh Menze reaped the rewards of eliminating self-doubt.

Her far-reaching accomplishment has led others like La’Shanda Holmes, the Coast Guard’s first black female helicopter pilot, to blaze trails of their own.

“Jeanine completely changed the perception of what a pilot was in my mind. So, I knew I could at least give it a shot,” said Holmes.

Lt. Cmdr. Jeanine McIntosh Menze, Lt. Cmdr. La’Shanda Holmes, Lt. Cmdr. Angel Hughes, Lt. Cmdr. Chanel Lee and Lt. Ronaqua Russell are the five black female pilots in the U.S. Coast Guard - nicknamed the ‘Fab Five’.

McIntosh Menze recommends vigorous advertising to get more black women into the aviation community.

“I would say one way to outreach to certain demographics is putting the work in the recruiting and effort in getting the word out about the Coast Guard,” Menze said.

“The first step is just getting the information out to the people who would be an asset to the service.”

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