Antonija Trupinić

Antonija Trupinić was born on August 15, 1984, in Nova Gradiška, Croatia. She completed elementary school at “Matija Gubec” in Cernik in 1998 and graduated from the general gymnasium in Nova Gradiška in 2003. She earned her Master’s degree in Aeronautics with a specialization in Military Aviation in 2008 at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, acquiring both the academic title of Master of Aeronautical Engineering and the qualifications for promotion to the first officer rank of Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, as well as the professional qualification of military helicopter pilot. Immediately after graduation, she joined the 393rd Helicopter Squadron of the 93rd Wing of the Croatian Air Force, stationed at the “Colonel Mirko Vukušić” barracks in Zemunik Donji near Zadar.

In 2010, she completed the “Pedagogical-Psychological, Didactic and Methodological Training for Flight Instructors in Aeronautics and Air Traffic” at the University of Zadar’s Faculty of Humanities, becoming a certified flight instructor. In 2014, she graduated from the Advanced Officer School at the Montgomery Air Base in Alabama, USA, as a Distinguished Graduate. In 2015, she completed additional flight training in Croatia and qualified as a test pilot on Bell 206B Jet Ranger helicopters. Since 2018, she has served at the Croatian Air Force Command in Velika Gorica. Antonija was promoted to First Lieutenant in 2012, Captain in 2017, and Colonel in 2022, becoming one of only ten female military pilots in Croatia. She has also completed additional training in military public relations and strategic communication, qualifying her for the role of Public Affairs Officer at the Croatian Air Force, which she currently holds in the Office of the Commander of the Croatian Air Force.

Over her 18-year career, she has received multiple commendations from the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces for outstanding contributions to her work. She is the inaugural and, to date, the only recipient of the prestigious international award Influential Croatian Women in the category “Women in the Armed Forces,” organized annually since 2016 by the Croatian Women’s Network Association in Toronto, Canada. She is also the recipient of the Cernik Municipality Charter for her contributions to the development and promotion of her hometown.