Capt. Annalisa Sanfilippo graduated from F-15C fighter pilot training, and will now complete an assignment with the 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno as the first female jet pilot with the California Air National Guard. U.S. Air National Guard photos by Master Sgt. Christian Jadot

It’s a historic 2024 graduation season as the first woman will take to the skies over Fresno as part of the California Air National Guard’s 144^th Fighter Wing.

Capt. Annalisa Sanfilippo on Friday celebrated graduation from F-15C fighter pilot training at Kingsley Field air National Guard Base in Oregon. Sanfilippo, 26, is the first female fighter pilot assigned to the 144^th Fighter Wing and the California Air National Guard.

Sanfilippo is a graduate of Vista del Lago High School in Folsom who went out to earn a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from University of Oklahoma in 2020. She even worked as an air quality specialist with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in Fresno before starting her pilot training.

The 144^th Fighter Wing provides air defense protection for the Western U.S. from its base near Fresno Yosemite International Airport.

“It’s protecting the West Coast, protecting the State of California,” Sanfilippo told an Oklahoma University publication last year about her assignment to the 144^th. “I feel lucky to be able to do that, to give back to the place that I call home.”