Today we honor the heroes around us – the more than 15.8 million courageous United States Veterans who have dedicated and sacrificed their lives to protecting our freedoms and safety. Their service has shaped our nation’s history, helped preserve our values, and secured our future. Today, and every day, we salute our Veterans and extend our heartfelt thanks for their service.

At SkyWest, we are proud to have so many Veterans on our team. We are honored to work alongside these exceptional individuals who continually demonstrate dedication and integrity. Read what some of them had to share about their time in the military below.

Taylor G. – Army National Guard

Taylor G. has always had a sense of duty. Despite not having anyone in his family serve in the military, he knew it was something he could do. After joining SkyWest as a flight attendant and returning to Salt Lake City, he finally had the time. So, he enlisted in the Army National Guard in May 2019 and went off to a few grueling months of Basic Training.

“It was really hard,” he explained. “You are brought down super low, and I would sit in bed questioning what I am doing, but it was really humbling. It was a few months of pure agony and then after all of that, you feel so relieved and accomplished. My proudest moment was graduating from basic training.”

Right after graduation, he got a call from his sergeant that Taylor made it just in time to deploy with them to Afghanistan. Despite thinking it was a joke at first, it quickly became real and in May 2020 he deployed. The COVID-19 pandemic added an extra layer of challenge, with isolation protocols and unique transport methods using Delta’s Hospital Mobile Pods.

“It felt very apocalyptic,” Taylor added. “But the weird thing for me was getting on the aircraft to deploy and taking weapons on the aircraft with us. As a flight attendant, it felt so wrong.”

Today, Taylor serves as an aviation operations specialist, communicating with helicopters almost like an air traffic controller. The job can be chaotic, but Taylor enjoys being at the heart of operations and distributing crucial information.

“We stay in touch with them every 30 minutes, keep track of any changes, and report what is happening on the missions to headquarters,” he said.

At SkyWest, Taylor works as an InFlight ground instructor, sharing his knowledge and experience with other flight attendants. He credits SkyWest’s flexibility for his ability to balance his military and civilian careers, on top of being a new father. Yet, it is his passion for aviation and his positive attitude that has gotten him through and even motivated him to continue growing his career.

“I have always loved being a flight attendant and being a ground instructor is super fun, but I also love that SkyWest is such a career-oriented place and I am actually taking the opportunity to move up to the front seat,” he explained. “Whenever I have time, I am up in the air getting my hours and working towards becoming a SkyWest pilot.”

Reflecting on his two jobs, Taylor shared: “I have learned so much from both and they both have helped me be a well-rounded person. I can apply a lot of things that I learned in training to SkyWest and vice versa. SkyWest is such a family company. We all have our different interests, but it is so cool that we all come together to share and go after the different things that are important to us.”

Tanita L. – Navy

In 2007, driven by a desire for discipline and new experiences, Flight Attendant Tanita Lewis made the life-changing decision to join the Navy.

“I needed to leave home and experience life outside of my norm,” Tanita shared.

Choosing the Navy was a natural choice for her. She has always loved the ocean and the allure of living on the water and the unique opportunities it presented were irresistible. Tanita was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, and worked as an Aviation Boatswain Mate Handler (ABH).

“I worked with the launching, recovering, and securing of aircraft to the flight deck,” Tanita explained. “I was also part of the crash and salvage team, acting as a firefighter and first responder if an aircraft crashed on the flight deck.”

One of the proudest moments during Tanita’s service was being assigned to a ship that was still under construction.

“When I got to my duty station, it was still on land,” Tanita said. “Within two years, it was complete, and I became a plank owner, meaning I was one of the first sailors assigned to that specific ship.”

The ship, the USS George H.W. Bush, was commissioned on Jan. 10, 2009, in a ceremony attended by the Bush family. The event was memorable for all involved and is one of her proudest moments.

After leaving the Navy in 2012 after five years of service, Tanita pursued her dream of becoming a flight attendant. Encouraged by a friend and guided towards SkyWest, Tanita was hired in June 2023.

“Being a flight attendant is a career I always wanted to pursue, but it just wasn’t the right time before,” she said. “My military experience, with the discipline I received and the ability to adapt to changes, has greatly impacted my career at SkyWest.”

For those considering joining the military, Tanita suggests that they have an open mind, do their research, and make sure that the military is what you really want to do.

“Don’t be afraid to chase your dreams,” Tanita added. “I wasn’t afraid, and I did everything I ever wanted to do.”

Chris D. – Army National Guard

Boise Mechanic III Chris D. enlisted in the military on May 31, 1989, the day he says he was born – born into the military life. Motivated by a desire for experience and inspired by his father, a Navy Air Corps WWII veteran, Chris sought to gain the unique “superpower” his father possessed.

“I wanted to gain the knowledge that my dad had about people, life, and not being afraid,” Chris shared. “I couldn’t have had a better father.”

Chris chose the Idaho Army National Guard, drawn by the opportunity to become a helicopter crew chief and for the chance to fly, if he wanted. In addition, he felt that this branch offered him the chance for “self-guided excellence,” allowing him to choose what he wanted to do.

Chris was first assigned as an Apache Crew Chief and later acquired additional specialized roles, including HAZMAT NCO and Unit Movement NCO. He also served as a Training/Readiness NCO, thanks to his commander’s suggestion.

“There was an opening for a Training and readiness NCO and my commander told me to put in an application,” Chris explained. “I said, ‘What? I am not good at that. That isn’t me. I am too slow.’ But my commander responded saying, ‘No, you are cutting yourself short. I believe in you. You will do a good job.’ So, I found out I was good at things that I never thought I would be good at.”

That same commander inspired him once again when he asked him to do something, and Chris questioned why he chose him to complete the task.

“I realized he chose me because he had faith in me,” Chris explained. “He saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself, and my questions turned into thank yous.”

Another impactful moment during Chris’s service was dedicating a flag to his father.

“You can take a flag, dedicate it to someone, and have it flown in combat,” Chris explained. “So, I wrote down that I was dedicating my flag to my father, World War II Veteran, hero, and best friend.”

The pilot read the dedication and walked right over to Chris. He was struck by the significance of flying the flag as a tribute to Chris’s father and to those who had fought before them. It was the present honoring the past, bridging the gap between generations of soldiers, and flying that flag became the high point of Chris’s service and the pilot’s as well.

“The military is an opportunity and not a sentence,” Chris said. “It is a vehicle that will get you where you want to go.”

During his time in the military, Chris gained a strong work ethic and a sense of initiative that he applies to his work at SkyWest and his daily life. He also learned that you never know what you are good at until you try it, that life is what you make of it, that showing respect leads to opportunities and that sometimes you just have to put your foot out there.

During his service, Chris was deployed to Khost, Afghanistan, also known as FOB Salerno, and later worked on a DOD contract at Tarin Kowt for a year.

“We give up our blood and the best of our lives AND our lives so that others will be able to self-determine according to their own dictates,” Chris said. “This is why we fight. You love what you serve and serve what you love. Now more than ever I love my country.”

Thank you all for your service.