Crew members of the C-17 that soared from March Air Reserve Base on a training mission weren’t born when Elinor Otto started making airplanes.

When Otto first stepped onto an assembly line in 1942, she and her fellow workers were breaking through a gender barrier to support the men leaving to fight World War II.

Over a 68-year career, she wound up building more than just the arsenal of democracy and hundreds more planes. She and her coworkers — the original Rosie the Riveters — built the world of today’s military and tomorrow’s leaders, Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II said.

“She changed the world in two ways,” Everhart said Monday, Dec. 18, at a ceremony to honor Otto and inspire the next generation’s ‘Rosies.’ “The first is the aircraft she has built. The second is the people she has built.”

Elinor Otto, 98, of Long Beach, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, speaks to guest and media on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, is given a standing ovation after speaking on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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A group of lady cadets from the Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program flex their arms for a photo with Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Matthew Gutierrez, 17, and Alicia Spencer, 17, both cadets with Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program, looks at medical equipment used for training while flying in a C-17 during a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, is escorted to a C-17 for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)



Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔÔRosie the RiveterÕ, has a moment with a group of women Air Force personnel before boarding a C-17 for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, boards a C-17 for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, and her grand son John Perry, both of Long Beach, sit in the flight deck of a C-17, before taking a flight for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Cadets from Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program, wait to take flight aboard a C-17 for a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Matthew Gutierrez, 17, and a Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC cadet, meets Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, right, and Lt. Gen Maryanne Miller, while on the flight deck of a C-17 during a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)



A KC-135 Stratotanker can be seen through the flight deck of an Air Force ReserveÕs 452nd Air Mobility Wing C-17 after completing an air refueling mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 after leaving March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Carlos Alarcon, 14, and a Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC cadet, checks out the view from a C-17 flight deck during a training mission with Elinor Otto, 98, left, and Lt. Gen Maryanne Miller, on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 outside March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Cadets from Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program, try to stabilize themselves while flying in a C-17 as it makes a turn in the air during a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 after leaving March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Madison Cote, 16, and a cadet with the Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC looks out of a window from a C-17 during a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

452nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron aboard a C-17 practice a proficiency training mission as cadets from Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program while flying in the C-17 on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017.(Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)



Cadets from Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program, look out of a window of a C-17 during a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 after flying out of March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Cadets from Canyon Springs High School Junior ROTC program, step off a C-17 after a flying training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, is helped off a C-17 by her grandson John Perry, after taking a flight for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Elinor Otto, 98, affectionately known as ÔRosie the Riveter, walks away from a C-17, after taking a flight for a local air refueling and aeromedical evacuation proficiency training mission on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley. Otto began building airplanes in 1942, as one of the first of millions of women who filled jobs vacated by men who were called to service during the war, commonly referred to as “Rosie the Riveters.” (Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Otto had a hand in building every Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Everhart said. But she had never flown in one.

That changed Monday, when Otto spent four hours in the cockpit of a C-17 flown by Everhart, with an almost entirely female crew — something that would have been unthinkable before she started her career.

Otto, now 98 and living in Long Beach, spoke before takeoff to more than 100 local residents, high school Jr. ROTC cadets and college ROTC cadets. She then flew with some of them up the California coast to San Francisco and back, refueling over the ocean.

“If I can inspire just one person in my life, it’s such an honor I can’t even express,” Otto said.

Otto particularly encouraged young people to pursue high-tech careers.

Otto took the riveter job six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and other than a brief stint as an office worker, she kept with it long after most people retired. That earned her the title of “the last Rosie the Riveter” by the time she retired in 2014 at the age of 95.

At first, she said, she needed the 65 cents an hour to take care of her young son. But why did she stay with it so long?

“It was hard work, but fun,” she said, then winked. “I could learn what men are doing — and if they worked as hard as they said they did.”

Otto’s long career also raises the question of why she is just now getting her first flight in one of the 279 C-17s she riveted, Lt. Gen. Maryanne Miller said.

“It just takes us a while,” said Miller, the first female commander of Air Force Reserve Command. “But when we get it, we get it. We get who you are, we get your history, we get what you did for this nation. The bond you formed with other Rosies will forever be a part of our American history.”

Posing with flexed biceps like the iconic “We can do it!” poster or just observing Otto from a distance, cadets said they appreciated the historic impact — and hoped to carry forward her legacy.

“She’s a true inspiration,” said Phalen Rodriguez, a 14-year-old student at Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley. “The way she stepped up makes me think: If they can do it, we can, too.”