Caroline Krieger

Caroline Krieger is the County Air Authority's Deputy Administrator.
==Early life==
The planned daughter of a married Air Force colonel, Caroline was born and raised in River Falls, Wisconsin, on January 1, 1977. She later became the oldest sibling in 1982 when a her brother was born. The core family did not expand further and served as a stable household. Naturally, as the oldest child, she was taught, for example chores, first. Alas the responsibility landed on her, rather than her brother, to complete them even after he was of age. Caroline quickly learnt to balance out acting immature and instead that of a serious adult. She was instilled that discipline is freedom by her father and embraced the philosophy. Through her younger years at school, she was on top of her game, at all times. Slowly maturing, she stopped herself from being controlled and having philosophies shoved down her throat and instead set out to make her own, based on her father's work ethics. Caroline was popular in school and didn't have issues in connecting with her peers. She was exceptional at hiding her own ego and didn't compare herself with others, leading to success in sports as well. She didn't expect to get praised. Caroline managed school with a silent resolve and produced good grades without bragging. Likeso, she handled her sports team with grace. At this time, she also learnt to be aggressive following minor harassment. Caroline was an exemplary young, up and comer.
==Coming of age==
At the age of fifteen, she moved to Milwaukee to enroll the Aviation Heritage Center, where a program in aeronautics at the Sheboygan County Airport was hosted. The program sought to foster knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math trough the world of aviation. She flew mostly Cessna 172's with a fligth instructor through the years up until her graduation in 1995.
She immediately moved again, at the age of eighteen, to Colorado Springs, Colorado and enrolled in a free four-year college education at the U.S. Air Force Academy, aimed for future commissioned officers. She entered the Air Force in 1998 as a graduate of the academy with a Bachelor of Science degree.
==Adulthood==
Caroline moved for the third time in 2002, only to serve as a T-38 instructor pilot, for barely a year before deploying in 2003 to relieve pilots in Operation Southern Watch, an operation that had been active since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. The mission was to monitor and control the airspace in southern and south-central Iraq. Military engagements in Southern Watch occurred with regularity. Caroline and other coalition aircraft was routinely being shot at by Iraqi air defense forces utilizing surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). During her deployment, an intensification was noted as the operation received a fragmentary order, renaming it Southern Forces, not surprising as preparations for the 2003 invasion of Iraq was immiment. On one night flight, Caroline was among four F-16's providing escort for F-18 and F-14 strike aircraft hitting targets in Baghdad. During the mission, the F-16 pilots received a "time-sensitive tasking", this was part of Operation Southern Focus, to drop bombs on a surface-to-air missile site. It was the first time their squadron had carried bombs during the war. Caroline piloted one of two fighters that went in to drop the bombs while the other two provided escort. Poor visibility forced the pilots to fly at a low altitude. Through night vision goggles, Caroline could see gunfire and tracers on the ground. Immediately after dropping munitions, the pilot leading the formation reported a missile was tracking him. He ditched his fuel tanks to avert a strike.
==Settling down==
After her deployment she continued to serve as a T-38 instructor pilot and moved to Wichita Falls, Texas, and later served as the Assistant Flight Commander for Air Force Reserve Command’s 340th Flying Training Group, 80th Flying Training Wing, at Sheppard Air Force Base, TX. She has logged more than 3,100 flight hours as an Air Force pilot, with 400 hours of combat experience in the F16C.
==Change of heart==
In 2014, at the rank of Major, Caroline suffered a myocardial infarction (MI) in her office, with symptoms such as back-, neck- and jawpain, heartburn, lightheadedness, shortness of breath and fatigue. She survived with early intervention from colleauges but lost her aviation medical certificate to work as an instructor pilot. Without her certificate, she was delegated mostly office work and became mildly depressed throughout the year.
==New beginnings==
If she couldn't fly, she still liked the challenge of managing flight and naturally applied to various Airport Manager listings at smaller airports. Armed with a Bachelor of Science, extensive education and experience in both flying and managing operations both in air and on ground it was an easy choice for most employers. With a certificate of release from active duty, she began working at McKenzie Field Airport in Grapeseed, San Andreas, from 2015 to 2017, when she moved on up in the world of work as Deputy Airport Manager for the Los Santos International Airport. As of 2019, she was invited to work for the County Air Authority, as the Deputy Administrator.