Captain Linda Garcia Cubero (born 1958) is a former United States Air Force officer, of Mexican-American-Puerto Rican descent who in 1980 was a member of the first class of women to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. She is the first Hispanic woman to graduate from any service academy. Early years Cubero's father was a United States Air Force officer of Mexican-American descent and her mother of Puerto Rican ancestry. Her father was a very influential factor in her life and she decided to follow in his footsteps and apply for admission to the United States Air Force Academy. Despite the fact that she ranked 25/485 students in her high school class and that she was a member of the National Honor Society, her guidance counselors told her that she “wasn’t good enough” to make it into the USAFA. United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy, located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, is an institution for the undergraduate education of officers for the United States Air Force. Graduates of the four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and most are commissioned as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force. On October 7, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation permitting women to enter the United States service academies. On June 26, 1976, Cubero was among 157 women to enter the Air Force Academy with the Class of 1980. In 1980, Cubero made history when she became a member of the first class of women to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. There she earned her BS degree in Political Science and her free-fall parachute wings. Upon her graduation she was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. Military service Cubero spent the next seven years in the Air Force serving as a command briefer, and on national-level task forces at The Pentagon. In 1982, Cubero was the recipient of a Joint Service Commendation Medal for her work with the Pentagon's intelligence task force assigned to the Falkland Island conflict. While serving as Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Cubero supervised the development of a United States commemorative stamp designed by Hispanic Congressional Medal of Honor recipients to honor Hispanics in America's defense. The stamp was designed by the ten surviving Hispanic Congressional Medal of Honor recipients and unveiled on October 31, 1984. She continued