Kelly Flinn, author of Proud to Be: My Life, The Air Force, The Controversy, was born December 23, 1970, in St. Louis, Missouri. When he was 12 years old, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from high school in 1989. On June 29, 1989, she entered the United States Air Force Academy and began her active duty career in the U.S. Air Force. She graduated from the Academy on June 2, 1993, and then attended undergraduate pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base. In September 1995 she was a Distinguished Graduate in her B-52 formal training unit. He was then stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. On May 28, 1997, Kelly J. Flinn resigned from active duty rather than face a court-martial. Growing up wasn't always easy for Kelly. She was the baby of the family, with four older brothers and sisters. Sitting in Catholic school, she tried to be the cute little girl she was supposed to be, but she was a terror on the playground. At the age of 5, he joined his first soccer league, which was a boys team. Things stayed that way until he got to high school. She started noticing boys and started dating. No one in her family had ever talked to her about the “birds and the bees” or even dating. Instead, independence, self-confidence and strength were the most important things. If they had problems, they solved them themselves. This served her little when she found herself in trouble with the Air Force years later. (p. 9)When Kelly was 15, he went to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. He discovered how much he loved the space, challenge and control he experienced. After Space Camp, he knew what he had to do and how to do it. She would go to the Air Force Academy and learn to fly. He spent the years after high school studying, joining clubs and filling out applications. In the late spring of his senior year, he finally received his acceptance letter. Then, a few weeks later, she received a letter from the Academy informing her that she was not qualified to be a pilot due to her poor eyesight. “I felt like I had been sent to hell after a quick taste of heaven” (p.14) is how she described her rejection.