fly in combat. The 1976 program graduated 10 women, including Captain Connie Engle, who went on to become the first woman to fly the T-41 Mescalero and T-37 Tweet aircrafts solo. She was also the first woman to lead a two-ship formation.
Both the Air National Guard and the Coast Guard had their first female pilots in the late 1970s. It took the Marine Corps a little longer; Major Sarah M. Deal became the first female Marine Corps pilot in April 1995.
According to the Department of Defense in 2011, the air force has the greatest percentage of women on active military duty: 19.1 percent. In 2005, for the first time in the history of the Air Force, a woman was allowed to join the legendary highperformance jet team, the Thunderbirds. Two years later, for the first time in naval history, a woman commanded a fighter squadron. All branches of the US military restricted women military aviators until January 2013. At that time, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a directive lifting all restrictions of women in combat. All military branches must submit a plan for integrating women by May 15, 2013, and integration must be complete by the beginning of 2016.
JACQUELINE COCHRAN
Women Pilots Can Make a Difference
J ACQUELINE â J ACKIEâ C OCHRAN KNEW women pilots could make a difference. In 1939, she wrote to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt suggesting that women pilots be trained in order to free male pilots for combat roles. Eleanor Roosevelt was no stranger to the skills of women pilots. She had been a friend of Amelia Earhartâs, whom she had often talked to about women flying. Roosevelt recommended that Jackie talk to General Hap Arnold.
General Hap Arnold headed the US Army Air Forces, which focused on military flying and eventually became the US Air Force. He asked Jackie to study the women pilots in Great Britain. She took 25 female pilots to Great Britain to train with ATA. She also demonstrated how women could be of service when she became the first woman to ferry a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean.
While Jackie was in Great Britain, Nancy Harkness Love established the Womenâs Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) through the Ferry Command of the Army Air Forces. Nancy picked the 25 best women pilots to ferry military planes throughout the United States.
General Arnold asked Jackie to return in 1942 to begin a womenâs flight-training program. The Womenâs Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) began in November when the first 28 recruits of the WFTD arrived in Houston to begin training. At the same time, Nancy Loveâs WAFS pilots flew their first missionâtransporting Piper Cubs from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, to Mitchell Field in Newcastle, England.
In February 1943, the Houston WFTD School closed, and all recruits for the program were required to report to Sweet-water, Texas. West of Dallas and Abilene, Sweetwater was dry and dusty and boasted a resident population of rattlesnakes. But it was also the location of Avenger Field, a training base for the Army Air Forces.
Nancy Love.
Courtesy of the US Air Force
Six months after Avenger Field became the training base for the WFTD, the government decided to merge the two women pilot programs, Nancyâs WAFS and Jackieâs WFTD, into the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Jackie became the director.
At Avenger Field, the women went through exactly the same training as the male recruits had. They trained mainly with the PT-19, but they also performed basic training with the BT-17 before advancing to the AT-6.
Unlike many early and famed women aviators, Jackie never had the ambition to be a pilot. She hadnât pined to be in the air when she was a little girlâshe had been too busy just trying to survive.
Born Bessie Pittman in the rural Florida panhandle, Jackie knew only her sawmill town and its cotton fields as a child. Poverty was a way of life, and sometimes she stole chickens so that her family could eat. In her
Both the Air National Guard and the Coast Guard had their first female pilots in the late 1970s. It took the Marine Corps a little longer; Major Sarah M. Deal became the first female Marine Corps pilot in April 1995.
According to the Department of Defense in 2011, the air force has the greatest percentage of women on active military duty: 19.1 percent. In 2005, for the first time in the history of the Air Force, a woman was allowed to join the legendary highperformance jet team, the Thunderbirds. Two years later, for the first time in naval history, a woman commanded a fighter squadron. All branches of the US military restricted women military aviators until January 2013. At that time, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a directive lifting all restrictions of women in combat. All military branches must submit a plan for integrating women by May 15, 2013, and integration must be complete by the beginning of 2016.
JACQUELINE COCHRAN
Women Pilots Can Make a Difference
J ACQUELINE â J ACKIEâ C OCHRAN KNEW women pilots could make a difference. In 1939, she wrote to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt suggesting that women pilots be trained in order to free male pilots for combat roles. Eleanor Roosevelt was no stranger to the skills of women pilots. She had been a friend of Amelia Earhartâs, whom she had often talked to about women flying. Roosevelt recommended that Jackie talk to General Hap Arnold.
General Hap Arnold headed the US Army Air Forces, which focused on military flying and eventually became the US Air Force. He asked Jackie to study the women pilots in Great Britain. She took 25 female pilots to Great Britain to train with ATA. She also demonstrated how women could be of service when she became the first woman to ferry a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean.
While Jackie was in Great Britain, Nancy Harkness Love established the Womenâs Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) through the Ferry Command of the Army Air Forces. Nancy picked the 25 best women pilots to ferry military planes throughout the United States.
General Arnold asked Jackie to return in 1942 to begin a womenâs flight-training program. The Womenâs Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) began in November when the first 28 recruits of the WFTD arrived in Houston to begin training. At the same time, Nancy Loveâs WAFS pilots flew their first missionâtransporting Piper Cubs from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, to Mitchell Field in Newcastle, England.
In February 1943, the Houston WFTD School closed, and all recruits for the program were required to report to Sweet-water, Texas. West of Dallas and Abilene, Sweetwater was dry and dusty and boasted a resident population of rattlesnakes. But it was also the location of Avenger Field, a training base for the Army Air Forces.
Nancy Love.
Courtesy of the US Air Force
Six months after Avenger Field became the training base for the WFTD, the government decided to merge the two women pilot programs, Nancyâs WAFS and Jackieâs WFTD, into the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Jackie became the director.
At Avenger Field, the women went through exactly the same training as the male recruits had. They trained mainly with the PT-19, but they also performed basic training with the BT-17 before advancing to the AT-6.
Unlike many early and famed women aviators, Jackie never had the ambition to be a pilot. She hadnât pined to be in the air when she was a little girlâshe had been too busy just trying to survive.
Born Bessie Pittman in the rural Florida panhandle, Jackie knew only her sawmill town and its cotton fields as a child. Poverty was a way of life, and sometimes she stole chickens so that her family could eat. In her
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