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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Maria Luisa Alvarado |
| Address |
Austin, Texas , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
June 22, 1956
(67 years)
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| Contributor | Joshua L. |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Oct 03, 2019 01:42am |
| Tags |
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| Info | María Luisa is a native Texan born and raised in San Antonio. She is one of four daughters and eight sons born to Francisco and Bonifacia Alvarado. Her family's history of public service includes her father who served in the US Army during WWII during which time he was a POW and released. All eight of her brothers served in the military, of which four served concurrently in Vietnam. One younger sister served in the Texas Air National Guard. (In 2005, her youngest brother served in Ubezkistan in support of the current US war efforts in Iraq.)
After graduating from Memorial High School in May 1974, María Luisa awaited her date of entry into the US Air Force to begin a six-year enlistment of active duty. On November 11, 1974, she began her 6-week Basic Military Training after which she received orders to report to Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois for technical training in the field of aircraft maintenance. Upon completing this training in April 1975, Maria Luisa’s first permanent duty assignment was to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. She was assigned to the 384th Air Refueling Wing as an assistant crew chief on a KC-135A Stratotanker aircraft. She was fully crew chief qualified before leaving McConnell Air Force Base in August 1977 when her duty assignment swap took her to Castle Air Force Base in Merced, California, 93rd Air Refueling Wing.
Upon her appointment as a Noncommissioned officer at Castle Air Force Base, she was assigned as a crew chief of one KC-135A aircraft. Notably the aircraft she was assigned was in cannibalization status and required extensive maintenance to restore to flight status. María Luisa and her assistant crew chief worked to prepare this aircraft for its first scheduled flight out of cannibalization status. The aircraft met its scheduled flight time one its first flight and landed without any significant discrepancies.
As a crew chief, María Luisa was recognized numerous times for her excellent job performance, professionalism, and leadership, and in a team effort with her assistant crew chief, Bob Bender, she was the first female crew chief at Castle Air Force Base to receive the Master Crew Chief Award. Notably, there were few female crew chiefs at the time and less that had received the Master Crew Chief Award. On November 10, 1980, Maria Luisa completed her 6-year enlistment and soon after returned to San Antonio to attend college and serve in the Texas Air National Guard.
In January 1981, María Luisa enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard and was assigned to the 149th Tactical Fighter Group (TFG) at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. She quickly met all qualifications to be a crew chief on F4C aircraft. In June 1981, she began attending college to pursue a technical degree in aircraft technology. From December 1981, she worked full-time as an Air Reserve Technician with the 149th TFG until December 1984. In January 1985, María Luisa chose to forego the non-traditional field of aircraft technology to begin her full-time pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in the liberal arts. Her academic interests were inclined to survey research methods in particular in the area of health studies. In May 1988, she was conferred a bachelor’s degree in sociology from The University of Texas at San Antonio.
After graduating from college, María Luisa accepted an opportunity to work the National Veterans Outreach Program, a veteran’s service organization of the American G.I. Forum. Once Federal funding was cut for the women’s veteran program she returned to the pursuit of opportunities in social and health research. Her research interest and experience are related to substance abuse treatment and prevention, and general social and health issues with adolescents and the elderly. It is due to her analyses and critical thinking about current issues affecting Texans and the lack of appropriate response by state leaders that has challenged her to run for elected office. María Luisa believes that all tax payers have a right to expect that their government work effectively and efficiently to serve all its citizens equally and fairly.
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