As someone who likes action, Shannon Brekke says she has the perfect job.

Brekke works at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport as an aircraft fueler, gassing up anything that flies in and out -- helicopters, small planes and commercial jets.

"I love it," she said. "I'm not cooped up behind a desk, and I'm around aircraft. Even when it's raining and I look like a wet dog, I have a smile on my face."

The 28-year-old, who lives in San Luis Obispo, started the job last month after 16 months as a firefighter for Halliburton in Kuwait. Before that, she served for seven years in the U.S. Navy. Part of that time she worked as a "yellow shirt," helping to launch and recover jets on aircraft carriers.

"I'd wave my arms like crazy and get them to go where I'd want them to go," she said, explaining how she'd guide F-14 Tomcat fighters to land at high speeds on the flight decks.

Brekke, who now often starts her workday at 5 a.m., plans on keeping this job at least three more years while she trains to become a paramedic. She also is taking scuba diving lessons.

"I blame all this on my father," she said. "He's a real fireball."

What you see: Thirty to 40 small planes are in the general aviation parking area of the airport. In the background, a commercial jet screeches as it touches down on the runway. A helicopter is spooling up its engine as it awaits clearance to take off.

Brekke, the only woman out of the 10 fuelers on-site, is constantly on the move, pulling hoses from a truck tanker, grounding the plane with a cable to the fuel truck to ensure no sparks nor fires break out, and climbing up ladders to insert fuel nozzles into the tanks on the airplane's wings.

After logging the account name and number of gallons, Brekke radios into the Jet Service Center for her next assignment, jokes with another fueler, and then drives off in the fuel truck to top off the tanks of two other small planes parked nearby.

What she sees: "The atmosphere is friendly; it's like a family," Brekke said. "The people I work with give me a bit of a hard time, but they let me know I'm doing great along the way.

"My job might seem monotonous to you," Brekke added, "but I'm a simple person. With my years in the military, I'm used to being told what to do. Making too many everyday choices is out of my paradigm."

What she likes: "I love being around airplanes. And the pilots -- all flying to different places -- I have utmost respect for, but I have no desire whatsoever to fly.

"It's not like I'm scared to. It's just that I love the adrenaline rush right here on the ground, the sound, the safe danger in it. It's fun to work here -- and that makes everything worth it in the end."

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