Amanda Edgren

Alisa Sekine • February 28th, 2026

Future careers are a hot topic for high school students, and finding the job that best suits them is a dream for many of these students. Some choose to serve their communities, while others choose to follow their passions; however, for Peninsula alumna Amanda Edgren from the class of 2010, her job combines both.

Currently, Edgren works for the United States Air Force, training C-17 cargo plane pilots in Oklahoma. Before she began training other pilots, she flew her own C-17 plane, carrying cargo to support military operations across the world. Her numerous deployments and missions eventually led her to become a member of the Special Operations section as well. In one of her deployments, Edgren was sent to the largest military base in Qatar to support U.S. operations in the Middle East. From there, she did everything from delivering pallets of water to where to retrieving the remains of soldiers who had fallen in battle. Edgren reflected that her work was humbling, and gave her a deeper appreciation for the combatants.

“Since I fly a cargo plane, I [do not have] the same experiences as [others] when it comes to combat.” Edgren said. “It meant a lot to me to have that connection with [combatants] through [my work]. The biggest job I was a part of was Operation Allies Refuge.”

Edgren was sent to Kabul, Afghanistan as part of Operations Allies Refuge, an evacuation that removed all U.S. personnel from Afghanistan. On the last day of withdrawal, Edgren helped to remove all U.S. personnel on her cargo plane. There were 5 aircrafts, including her own, to evacuate everyone. She was the second to last to leave. On that last day, Edgren was in her plane, getting ready to take off. During her last-minute preparations, she spotted around 5 to 6 armed Taliban members outside of a gate. She knew that although they could not see her plane, as it was pitch-black outside, they could definitely hear it. Edgren got ready to leave, and the last thing she remembers seeing through her night vision goggles was the Taliban members with their guns in hand, waving goodbye into the darkness. Despite knowing that they could not see her, Edgren recalls waving goodbye back to them. As she took off into the skies, many of the U.S. personnel that had fought in Afghanistan came up to the cockpit with a request. They wanted to say goodbye to Afghanistan, the land in which they had fought for so many years, as they watched it fade into the distance.

“It really hit [me] hard,” Edgren said. “These people had lost so many friends [and] allies in Afghanistan. And now, they were watching it fade into the distance, knowing [that] they were never [going] to return.”

A year later, Edgren was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross for her role in the withdrawal. The United States Armed Forces awards the DFC to those who have displayed acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Edgren was shocked upon receiving the DFC, and said that she just did what needed to be done at the moment. She was very honored and humbled by the medal.

Surprisingly, despite her prestigious awards and many deployments, Edgren actually was not looking to become part of the military when initially searching for a future career. Instead, her goal was simply to fly planes. Edgren recalled looking up colleges that had aviation programs on Google in her junior year, which was how she found out about the Air Force Academy. She also discovered the Air Force Academy had a summer seminar program, in which she could learn more about it. The summer seminar is where Edgren decided that she wanted to serve in the U.S. military. As she was getting ready to leave for the summer seminar, Edgren realized that she would have to leave before some of her finals. Fortunately, she had teachers that were willing to accommodate her. One of them was Jonathan Stamper, her junior year physics teacher, who allowed her to take her final early.

“[I made] an exception [for her],” Stamper said. “But if I recall, her grade was so high that she could have flunked the final and still received an A. She was THAT GOOD!”

When remembering Edgren, Stamper also highlighted her superb leadership skills and how she would help other students with their lab questions. He is not the only former teacher of Edgren that has fond memories of her. Her character and kindness left lasting memories on many Peninsula teachers, including her former world history teacher and soccer coach, Scotte Massey. As Edgren played soccer for four years and was even captain of the varsity girls team, she knew Massey for her whole high school career. And even 16 years after her graduation, Massey only has good things to say about her.

“[Edgren] was a great student,” Massey said. “And although I did not know about her achievements in her career, I am not surprised in the least. Ever since I have known her, I knew she was going to do great things because she was so motivated and capable.”

Although Edgren was not sure of her path before going to the Air Force summer seminar, it is clear her strength of character has been present since her high school days, and as she continues her journey serving in the Air Force in the United States and beyond, her roots remain at Peninsula.