August 12, 2005

Navy Aviator of the Year 2004 

Evergreen native awarded prestigious honor

By Bea Baechle
Editor

Elizabeth “Beth” Regoli, a United States Naval Academy graduate who grew up in Evergreen, received the prestigious “Aviator of the Year 2004” award for the P-3 community in the Northwestern region.

Evergreen native Beth Regoli has earned the “Aviator of the Year 2004” award and a Combat Air Medal since joining the Navy in 1999.

The modest, 28-year-old naval lieutenant learned of the award in March, but didn’t share the news until recently—unwilling to “make a big deal about it.” Yet she was up against a potential 140 naval pilots from four squadrons in her region, and the Navy chose her for this annual honor.

Evergreen roots
Growing up in Evergreen, Regoli attended Evergreen Elementary School and Quimby Oak Middle School. She graduated from Archbishop Mitty High School with an astounding 4.74 grade point average because of the many advanced placement courses she completed.

“She was always a top student,” recalls her mom, Valerie Regoli, who remembers representatives from Princeton, WestPoint and the U.S. Naval Academy coming to their home in hopes of recruiting her daughter to their campuses.
Regoli wanted to attend a school with serious students, but she also wanted to play on a Division-I basketball team, and ultimately decided that the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., would be the best fit for her. She played varsity basketball all four years, while majoring in economics and still maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Although Regoli says that she didn’t always dream of being a pilot, by the time she graduated from the Naval Academy, she was certain that this was the path she wanted to take in the near future.

Aviation training
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1999, Regoli went on to Pensacola, Fla., to begin her aviation training. She completed her aviation training in Corpus Christi, Texas, and went on to fly P-3 airplanes for the Navy out of Whidbey Island, Wash. 

During her three-year assignment out of Whidbey Island, Regoli completed two six-month overseas deployments in both Afghanistan and Iraq, earning a Combat Air Medal for her diligent efforts. To qualify for this honor, pilots must clock 250 hours of flying time over a combat zone. It was during this assignment that she also won the Aviator of the Year 2004 award.

Regoli returned to Corpus Christi, Texas, early this year to serve as a flight instructor for T-34 single-engine, trainer planes for up-and-coming military aviators. Since she’s in the very beginning of another three-year assignment, Regoli says it will be at least another year before she can begin negotiating orders for her next assignment.

Although she’ll have eight years of service in the Navy at the end of her current assignment, Regoli isn’t sure if she wants to spend the next 12 years in the Navy—the length of time required before her retirement benefits would kick in.

“I really enjoy my job,” says Regoli, adding, however, that it’s not conducive to family life, particularly on assignments that require a lot of travel overseas, like her last one. On the other hand, she admits dressing up to go to work every day rather than wearing a flight outfit would be an adjustment.

Fortunately, Regoli has plenty of time to mull over her decision. In the meantime, she’s got a family and a community in Evergreen supporting her efforts.

“Of course I’m very, very proud of her,” says Valerie of her daughter’s many accomplishments. “She’s a lovely person, she’s kind and she’s great to be around. What can a mom say?”