Kim Ponders

Last updated

Kimberly A. Ponders is a fiction writer and former military aircrew weapons controller. Her first novel, The Art of Uncontrolled Flight, was released with HarperCollins in September 2005. Her second novel, The Last Blue Mile, was released 22 May 2007.

Contents

Early life and career

Kim grew up near Boston, Massachusetts, and graduated from Syracuse University. She worked as a small-town reporter in northern California.

In 1989, she attended Officer Training School and was commissioned into the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant. In 1991, she became qualified as an air weapons controller on the E-3 AWACS and went to Saudi Arabia with Desert Storm, becoming one of the first American women to fly in a combat zone. [1] She spent the next five years flying missions out of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, providing air supplies to the Kurds in northern Iraq and monitoring the Iraqi no-fly zone. These experiences formed the basis of her first novel, The Art of Uncontrolled Flight. [2]

Now a lieutenant colonel, Kim is the lead speechwriter for Lieutenant General John Bradley, Chief of the Air Force Reserve. She holds an M.S. in international relations and an M.F.A. from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. She has written about the current Iraq war on blogsites such as Femme La Guerre and BlogHer, a women's news and features site. She teaches at a conference run by A Room of Her Own, the largest women-only writer's foundation in the country. Kim also has reviewed books for the Washington Post . [3]

She lives in southern New Hampshire with her husband and two boys. [2]

Bibliography

Novels

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia</span> Combined military forces of Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF), also known as the Royal Saudi Armed Forces, is part of the military forces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of the Saudi Arabian Land Forces, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, and the Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force. The King of Saudi Arabia is the commander-in-chief of all the Military Forces and forms military policy with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior. The five Armed Forces are among eight military forces of Saudi Arabia, with the others including the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the Saudi Royal Guard Regiment and Saudi Arabian Border Guards.

The hijackers in the September 11 attacks were 19 men affiliated with the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda. They hailed from four countries; 15 of them were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Egypt, and one from Lebanon. To carry out the attacks, the hijackers were organized into four teams, each led by a pilot-trained hijacker who would commandeer the flight with three or four "muscle hijackers" who were trained to help subdue the pilots, passengers, and crew. Each team was assigned to a different flight and given a unique target to crash their respective planes into.

Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, is the flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. The airline's main operational base is at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam are secondary hubs. It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 100 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Domestic and international charter flights are operated, mostly during the Ramadan and the Hajj season. It joined the SkyTeam airline alliance on 29 May 2012 becoming the first Persian Gulf carrier to join one of the three major airline alliances. Saudia is a member and one of the founders of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud</span> Saudi royal, diplomat, military officer and government official (born 1949)

Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud is a retired Saudi Arabian diplomat, military officer, and government official who served as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States from 1983 to 2005. He is a member of the House of Saud. From 2005 to 2015 he served as secretary general of the National Security Council, and was director general of the Saudi Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014. From 2014 to 2015 he was King Abdullah's special envoy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf War</span> 1990–1991 war between Iraq and American-led coalition forces

The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: Operation Desert Shield, which marked the military buildup from August 1990 to January 1991; and Operation Desert Storm, which began with the aerial bombing campaign against Iraq on 17 January 1991 and came to a close with the American-led Liberation of Kuwait on 28 February 1991.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1984:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eileen Collins</span> American astronaut and pilot (born 1956)

Eileen Marie Collins is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force (USAF) colonel. A former flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a Space Shuttle mission.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1992:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision</span> November 1996 mid-air plane collision in northern India

On 12 November 1996, Saudia Flight 763, a Boeing 747 en route from Delhi, India, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907, an Ilyushin Il-76 en route from Chimkent, Kazakhstan, to Delhi, collided over the village of Charkhi Dadri, around 100 km west of Delhi. The crash killed all 349 people on board both planes, making it the world's deadliest mid-air collision and the deadliest aviation accident to occur in India. The crash was caused by failure of the Kazakhstani crew to maintain the correct altitude, because of confused dialogue with the tower communicated via the radio operator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Khafji</span> 1991 battle of the Gulf War

The Battle of Khafji was the first major ground engagement of the Gulf War. It took place in and around the Saudi Arabian city of Khafji, from 29 January to 1 February 1991 and marked the culmination of the Coalition's air campaign over Kuwait and Iraq, which had begun on 17 January 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Patchett</span> American novelist and memoirist (born 1963)

Ann Patchett is an American author. She received the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in the same year, for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars (1992), Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), and The Dutch House (2019). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Sanaa International Airport is the primary international airport of Yemen located in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. It services Sanaa City as well as the entire population of the Northern Provinces of Yemen. Initially, a small passenger terminal was built in the 1970s. The runway is shared with a large military base with several fighter jets and transport aircraft of the Yemeni Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VFA-131</span> Military unit

Strike Fighter Squadron 131 (VFA-131), also known as the "Wildcats", is a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. Their radio call sign is "Wildcat" and their aircraft tail code is AC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Southern Watch</span> 1992–2003 U.S. military operation in southern Iraq

Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003.

Unburnable is a 2006 novel written by Antiguan author Marie-Elena John and published by HarperCollins/Amistad. It is John's debut novel. Part historical fiction, murder mystery, and neo-slave narrative, Unburnable is a multi-generational saga that follows the African Diaspora in the United States and the Caribbean, offering a reinterpretation of black history. John was an Africa Development specialist in New York City and Washington, D.C. prior to turning to writing. Since publication of Unburnable, she has worked with the United Nations, currently serving as Senior Racial Justice Lead at UN Women.

Joanna Mary Salter is a former Royal Air Force pilot, and was Britain's first female fast jet pilot flying the Panavia Tornado ground attack aircraft with 617 Squadron. She later became an inspirational speaker. In November 2016 she joined PwC as a director and Chief of Staff, responsible for digital capabilities within the People and Organisation practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lori Robinson</span> United States Air Force general

Lori Jean Robinson is a retired United States Air Force general who served as commander of the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) from May 2016 to May 2018. She was the first female officer in the history of the United States Armed Forces to command a major Unified Combatant Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan "Two Dogs" Hampton</span> American Air Force officer and novelist

Daniel James Hampton Jr. is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986 to 2006. He flew 151 combat missions in the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and logged 726 career combat hours. Lt. Col (Ret.) Hampton is best known as a "Wild Weasel", or surface to air missile (SAM) site killer, recording 21 hard kills on SAM sites. Hampton fought in multiple wars, including the Gulf War, Kosovo War, and Iraq War. He also flew combat air patrols during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Hampton was wounded in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing and again as a private military contractor in Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">241st Air Traffic Control Squadron</span> Unit of the Missouri Air National Guard

The 241st Air Traffic Control Squadron is a unit of the Missouri Air National Guard, stationed at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base, St. Joseph, Missouri. If activated to federal service, the unit is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Olson</span> American military officer, non-profit executive, and politician

Kimberly D. Olson is an American non-profit executive, politician, and retired military officer from the state of Texas. She served in the United States Air Force for 25 years, reaching the rank of colonel. She was the Democratic Party nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner in the 2018 elections and a candidate in the 2020 elections seeking to represent Texas's 24th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.

References

  1. ↑ Bulkley, Liz (September 20, 2005). "Tales of a Female Aviator". NH Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  2. 1 2 Nelson, Hillary (September 25, 2005). "'Our undoing as a country' - Air Force pilot reflects on Iraq war". The Concord Monitor. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  3. ↑ Ponders, Kim (2006-05-18). "Unfriendly Skies". Washington Post . Retrieved 2006-11-26.
  4. ↑ Swofford, Anthony (January 10, 2007). "New World Order, Same Old Story". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-02-26.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/24/AR2008072402634.html

Reviews of Ponders's work
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.