SLCC Celebrates Black History Month: Jeanine McIntosh-Menze and La’Shanda Holmes

Jeanine McIntosh-Menze and La’Shanda Holmes

Jeanine McIntosh-Menze is the first African-American female aviator in the United States Coast Guard history.

Born in Jamaica in 1979, McIntosh-Menze attended Vaz Preparatory School in Kingston before relocating with her family to Canada and subsequently to Florida. She attended high school at Miami Killian High School and graduated from Florida International University with a degree in International Business.

MacIntosh-Menze joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 2003 after graduation from the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School. She began Coast Guard aviation training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas in January 2005. She earned her aviator wings on June 24, 2005 and was assigned to fly HC-130 Hercules aircraft out of Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.

Among her assignments has been flying rescue missions for the USCG in New Orleans, Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.

She also serves as a mentor and friend to another pioneering member of the USCG. On April 9, 2010, Menze pinned a set of aviator wings on La’Shanda Holmes, in the process making Holmes the first female African-American helicopter pilot in U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) history. Holmes called the pinning ceremony, "a really emotional experience" for both herself and Menze. "Both of our eyes were watering and she asked me ‘Are you ready for this?’ I can’t think of a more awesome moment in my life.”

Prior to joining the coast guard, Holmes graduated magna cum laude from high school before earning a degree from Spelman College.

Following her graduation from Spelman, Holmes applied for and was accepted into the College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative. She served on a Coast Guard cutter before enrolling in Officer Candidate School.

Holmes completed the nearly two-year training required to become a USCG helicopter pilot at Naval Air Station Whiting Field’s Helicopter Training Squadron 18.

Holmes is currently a Lieutenant (junior grade) serving her first tour as a search and rescue pilot based out of Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles.

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