They called her the “Angel of Death.”

Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Allison Black spent more than 32 years serving her country, but her path to becoming a special operations aviator was anything but planned.

Allison began her career as an enlisted SERE specialist before becoming an officer and eventually flying AC-130 gunships with Air Force Special Operations Command.

After September 11, 2001, Allison deployed to Central Asia and flew one of her first combat missions over Afghanistan. Working alongside U.S. Special Forces and Afghan forces, her voice over the radio and the firepower of the AC-130 helped create a story that would follow her for decades: the “Angel of Death.”

But this conversation is about much more than a nickname.

Allison joins Herb and Corrie Thompson to talk about earning credibility in a male-dominated special operations community, failure, leadership, command, marriage and raising a family while serving, the responsibility of bringing people home, and eventually figuring out who Allison Black was without the uniform.

She also shares why she spent years uncomfortable with the “Angel of Death” story and why she eventually decided it was worth telling.

This is a conversation about service, identity, leadership, family, and learning to let your actions speak for you.

In this episode:

• Going from Long Island to the U.S. Air Force

• Becoming a SERE specialist

• Making the leap from enlisted Airman to officer and aviator

• September 11 and deploying to Afghanistan

• Flying the AC-130 gunship in combat

• The real story behind the “Angel of Death” nickname

• Being a woman in the special operations community

• Leadership, failure, trust, and the burden of command

• Balancing two military careers, marriage, and raising children

• Retiring after 32+ years of service

• Finding identity and purpose after the uniform

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Learn more about Allison Black and booking her to speak through www.libertyspeaks.com

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