By Elaine K. Howley   

In the late 1960s, when Maxine “Micki” King was deciding what career to pursue, women were making slightly more than half of what men did in most jobs.  

“I just knew I couldn’t participate in a system like that,” King said.   

Determined to find pay parity, King discovered the military was one of the few careers that guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Sensing a good deal when she saw it, the Pontiac, Mich., native enrolled in the University of Michigan and planned to enter the Air Force afterward.   

While at the University of Michigan — well before the passage of Title IX created women’s collegiate sports — King built a superlative diving career under legendary coach Dick Kimball. After graduation in 1966, she attended Officer Training School, and her first Air Force assignment was at the University of Michigan ROTC detachment, “which I had magically pre-arranged with the Air Force sports office before I enlisted,” King said. This allowed her to continue working with Kimball, but now as an Air Force lieutenant.   

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In 1968, King represented Team USA at the Mexico City Olympic Games, narrowly missing the podium after breaking her arm on the board during the ninth of 10 dives. Having led the entire competition, she ultimately finished in fourth place and spent the next 108 days in an enormous plaster cast.    

King thought her Olympic quest would end with that disappointment. “But because of the Air Force, I was able to keep diving,” she said. She qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. 

“They were very excited to have me represent the Air Force as I pursued my second try at Olympic gold,” she said.   

At age 28, the Air Force captain was considered “old” to be a contender, but King topped the podium in Munich.    

With gold medal in hand, she received a summons from then-Brig. Gen. Jeanne Holm, the first female one-star general of the Air Force. (Holm would go on to become the first female two-star general in any service branch when she was promoted to major general in 1973.)  

King hurried to Washington to meet with Holm, who had long been an advocate for women in the military. Though King had orders to report to a base in Southeast Asia in a few weeks’ time, Holm instead recognized an opportunity to expand the visibility of female Air Force officers: King would become the first female faculty member at the Air Force Academy.

“There weren’t even any female secretaries there at the time,” King recalled.   

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At the academy, King served as a physical education instructor and coached the diving team. During her first year, cadet Rick McAlister won the NCAA diving championship.   

King went on to climb the ranks and break ground during her 26-year career with the Air Force, retiring as a colonel in 1992. She says her good fortune and lengthy career are all thanks to diving and the support of the Air Force.  

“I wouldn’t be the me I am today, and I wouldn’t have achieved any of the things I have without diving and the Air Force,” King says with deep gratitude.   

Elaine K. Howley is a freelance writer and an editor who co-authored Micki King’s memoir, Break of a Lifetime (CG Sports Publishing, 2025).