Jane H. Vance (b. 1944), of Kinston, North Carolina, worked with computers for the United States Air Force from 1966-1987. Vance grew up in Wayne County where her father, James Luther Helms, was a contractor and her mother, Eloise Taylor Helms, was a homemaker.

Vance attended the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (later the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) from 1962-1966 where she graduated with a BA in Geography. Vance later went on to St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas where she graduated in 1977 with a Master of Science degree in Systems Management.

Vance enlisted in the United States Air Force in Richmond, Virginia before being sent to Medina Annex at the Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. She also served in Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, Louisiania from 1967-1968; Tan Son Nhut AFB in Vietnam from 1968 - May, 1969, with the Data Automation office; Randolph AFB, in Texas from May 1969 - May 1973; Langley AFB, in Texas from May 1973 - May 1974; a second tour at Randolph AFB from May, 1974 - May, 1979; the Pentagon, near Arlington, Virginia and Andrews AFB, in Maryland near Washington, DC with the National Guard Bureau from February 1979 - March 1984 as an Air National Guard (ANG) Automated Plans and Requirements Officer. Vance's final assignment was a return to Randolph AFB from March 1984 to November 1987, when she retired with the rank of Major.