# @af_academy on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DVjQEGck2YU
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/58814805-af-academy-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/6c8f1918b3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-03-06T17:07:46.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** U.S. Air Force Academy (@af_academy) — https://gondola.cc/af_academy

## Caption

📣 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲: 𝐂𝟏𝐂 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐨 𝐋𝐮𝐠𝐨 ⚔️

Meet C1C Valeria Pacheco Lugo from Juncos, Puerto Rico! 🇵🇷

A Foreign Area Studies major with a Political Science focus and Spanish minor, Valeria chose #USAFA after witnessing firsthand the impact of disaster relief efforts following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, inspiring her to pursue a path of service and leadership.

She comes from a proud family of service. Her mom, Dr. Linette Lugo, serves as an oral surgeon in the Air National Guard and her great-grandfather served in the usarmy. 🇺🇸

Valeria will become a usairforce Intelligence Officer, where she hopes to leverage her language skills, cultural understanding and political science background to advise intelligence policy and inform national security professionals.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲:
🪖 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝟒 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫. Oversaw and mentored 100+ cadets in achieving their academic, athletic and military training objectives
🌎 𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. Worked alongside national security experts at USNORTHCOM
🎖️ 𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐂 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦. Trained 150+ Airmen at jbsa_official alongside Military Training Instructors
🗂️ 𝐁𝐂𝐓 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. Oversaw the training of 130+ basic cadets from the Class of 2029

The Academy has pushed her outside her comfort zone and strengthened her ability to communicate effectively and apply classroom knowledge to real-world challenges.

“𝐁𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 ‘𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫’ 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.”

Drop a 👏 to cheer Valeria on!

#FirstieFriday #LeadersOfCharacterAndQuality #WarfightersToWin #CriticalThinkersToAdapt #NoQuitAllGrit #USAFA2026

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## Tags

usafa2026, firstiefriday, criticalthinkerstoadapt, warfighterstowin, usafa, noquitallgrit, leadersofcharacterandquality

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