While in the air, the plane flies to "a track" in the air for refueling.
"They're just like a running track but up in the sky," Thompson said. "We fly up and within the track and the other plane comes up and meets us to refuel."
After returning to base, the crew was debriefed on every part of the flight.
"It's a very methodical, procedural thing you go through every flight," Thompson said. "By the time you fly two or three years, it’s pretty automatic except for when you are refueling a plane. That's when things get touchy because the different the type of plane, it creates different types of drag and pull on your plane. You have to react differently."
Thompson loved flying. She said she would have stayed for her full 20 years if she had flown fighters.
"I was more excited to do more of that type of flying, which you do a lot of formation flying, low level flying, tactical flying,” she said. “When you're doing air fueling, I enjoyed it for a while but after while it became monotonous. You're just doing the same thing. After a while, I'm not being challenged where I want to be. That's why I started looking at other avenues."
Thompson flew for nearly six years before receiving an honorable discharge in 2001 and diving into the challenges and opportunities of a career in coaching and coaching education. As of late, her work has focused on creating a comprehensive mentorship program for women in coaching and providing the next generation with the support she wishes she had in her own journey.
The project officially came to life on October 6 with the launch of the Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund and SheChampions Mentorship Program. The 22 women seeking their A Youth and A Senior (geared for the college and professional levels) licenses this year have been paired with highly accomplished mentors. At the end of November, the Pro License candidates will begin working with theirs.
All candidates are also having half their tuition paid by the Scholarship Fund.
WATCH: The Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund & SheChampions Mentorship Program
"We've had so much feedback, just going back to the announcement of the program," Thompson said. "There was so much excitement and buzz and then we had a kickoff webinar. The caliber of mentors we have in our program is exciting. You can feel the excitement of everybody that was in there. I would say it is a who's who of coaches in the United States. You can feel the excitement and the thrill of them being part of an organization and part of a program."
Mentors include three former U.S. Women's National Team coaches - Anson Dorrance, the University of North Carolina women's coach who guided the USA to the first Women's World Cup title in 1991, April Heinrichs, who directed the U.S. to the 2004 Olympic gold medal, and Ellis, who won back-to-back world championships in 2015 and 2019.
Thompson, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, has known Ellis for quite a while.
"When U.S. Soccer said to me, 'We want to put these two programs together, the Jill Ellis Scholarship Fund and the SheChampions Mentorship Program, I was ecstatic," she said. "Jill has really taken to this program with everything that she has. I was just talking to her last week. She is just so excited about her mentee and the conversations they’ve been having. She's going to go and visit her. It's just that kind of excitement from somebody with such accomplishments that is humbling for me."
