Deborah Miller
Staff
Meet the Staff:
Deborah Miller
Deborah began flying when she was 10 years old. She was her father’s first passenger after he got his private pilot’s license. Her father has been passionate about flying since he was a young boy and still teaches people how to fly at the age of 84. Deborah was interested in flying but was told she was too short. She later learned that she could get a waiver for her height. She enrolled in AFROTC at the University of NH and pursued getting a flying slot. She had to compete nationally for a slot for women. She got her slot and her height waiver. She was assigned to Williams AFB for UPT and reported in December of 1982. Shortly after arriving she was told she was shorter than her waiver was approved for so she had to take the T-37 out to the runway and prove she could see over the dash and she could hold the breaks at full throttle. She passed this test and was nick named the Max-Min because she was the maximum minimum height that could be waived. Deborah met her husband, Jeff, while at UPT. He was an instructor in the T-37, but not her instructor. Deborah was assigned to the KC-135 after UPT graduation. She also married her husband 3 days after graduation. After completing KC-135 training and Survival Training she was assigned to Grissom, AFB. Jeff joined her several months later as an ACE instructor.
After learning that Deborah was expecting her first child and Jeff was already scheduled to be transferred to train and fly the A-10 they sought a solution that would work. After a very difficult year including the death of a friend in an AF KC-135 crash, Deborah petitioned and was granted a separation from the Air Force. She later joined Jeff at England, AFB. It was while they were stationed there that their second child was born. Jeff separated from the AF in 1990 and has been flying for FedEx ever since. He currently flies the 777. Deborah and Jeff have discussed flying as a ministry once Jeff retires from FedEx.