She served as the USAF Academy's commandant of cadets, a post from which she was removed due to an Air Force Inspector General investigation.

As a Coast Guard brat who moved frequently, she claimed Fairfax, Virginia as her home town because she attended high school there.

She then underwent flight training for the Cessna T-37 Tweet, Raytheon T-1 Jayhawk, and Lockheed C-130 Hercules at Laughlin and Little Rock Air Force Bases from January 1994 through August 1995.

[8] That August, then-First Lieutenant Goodwin was assigned to the 41st Electronic Combat Squadron at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base as the commander of a Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call.

November 2004 through December 2005 saw then-Major Goodwin teaching B-2 pilots and still flying T-38s with the 509th Operations Support Squadron (509 OSS); through July 2006 she added to her plate: Chief of Combat Plans for the 509th Bomb Wing.

[9] Major Goodwin returned to the Pentagon in July 2006 to work under the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General T. Michael Moseley.

After leaving Louisiana in May 2016, Goodwin was the senior military assistant to Secretaries of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Lisa Disbrow.

Anonymous officers at the academy told The Gazette that "Goodwin was a caustic leader who treated those under her roughly and was easily riled.

"[16] On 21 November 2019, the inspector general released its investigative report, substantiating claims that Goodwin blamed others for her failures, failed to engender an acceptable workplace environment, traveled on government time for personal purposes to the tune of US$5,300 (equivalent to $6,431 in 2023), made inappropriate charges to a cadet's government credit card while on temporary duty assignment to the Captain Marvel premiere, and more.

In response, Goodwin's civilian attorney announced that the general would pursue redress for Silveria's decision in accordance with Article 138 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice as it was based on hearsay and therefore "[w]e assess his actions were arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of his discretion as superintendent."