From the time she was 10 years old, Capt. Debra A. Bartz desired to become a pilot. Graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1982, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant and went on to fly for the military for two decades. Excelling as the human services administrator for the 128th Air Refueling Wing Medical Squadron, while also serving part-time with the Air National Guard, she concluded her military career in 2002 as a liaison officer for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

While pursuing her Air Force goals, Ms. Bartz began working for United Airlines in San Francisco, California, in 1998, where she was captain of a 737 airplane until 2005. From 2005 to 2010, she was captain of a 767 airplane, and since 2005, she has been captain of Airbus 320. In light of her piloting service, Ms. Bartz has earned various ribbons from the military and dedicated six years to Women Military Aviators as a member of the board of directors and treasurer between 2003 and 2009.

Since 2010, Ms. Bartz has also served as the owner of Learn Conquer Soar Coaching and has been a mentor and life coach for Rogue Valley Mentoring since 2020. Certified as a transpersonal energy-healing practitioner since 2020, she is a board-certified holistic practitioner with the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Likewise, she is a certified gluten practitioner, certified master in transformational coaching and certified hormone trained specialist. Her holistic lifestyle and integrative nutrition coaching background stem from her previous diagnosis with an autoimmune disorder. Feeling that her medical facility was more concerned with experimental treatment than finding the root cause of her diagnosis, she subsequently decided to attend the State University of New York-accredited Institute for Integrative Nutrition program.

Attributing her success to her leadership skills and ability to act with persistence and tenacity in order to make it into the world of aviation, Ms. Bartz also credits her own resilience in running her own business as a holistic practitioner. Since she was young, she always wished to make a difference in other individuals’ lives, both in life and in health. Not only has she dedicated her life to improving others’ health, but she has also paved the way for other aspiring women pilots to excel in the aviation industry.

To attest to her success, Ms. Bartz was named an Elite American Health Professional in 2015 and 2017. Additionally, in 2016, Elite Women Worldwide recognized her for superior leadership, as well as Top Female Executive for outstanding professional excellence. Earlier, Ms. Bartz was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year in Holistic and Integrative Nutrition by Worldwide Branding in 2015 and was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women in 2011 and 2012.