Kelly Flinn, author of Proud to Be: My Life, The Air Force, The Controversy, was born on December 23, 1970, in St. Louis, Missouri. When she was 12, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from high school in 1989. On June 29, 1989, she entered the United States Air Force Academy and began her active-duty career in the U.S. Air Force. She graduated form the Academy on June 2, 1993, and then went on the Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base. In September 1995 she was the Distinguished Graduate in her B-52 formal Training Unit. She was then stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. On May 28, 1997, Kelly J. Flinn res