First female F-35 pilot begins training

First female F-35 pilot begins training
06 May 2015 1st Lt. Hope Cronin 33rd Fighter Wing public affairs

"5/6/2015 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The Department of Defense welcomed its first female F-35 Lightning II pilot here May 5.

Lt. Col. Christine Mau, 33rd Fighter Wing Operations Group deputy commander, completed her first training flight in the single-seat fifth-generation fighter following 14 virtual training missions in the full mission simulator at the F-35 Academic Training Center.

"It wasn't until I was taxiing to the runway that it really struck me that I was on my own in the jet," said Mau, formerly an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. "I had a chase aircraft, but there was no weapons system officer or instructor pilot sitting behind me, and no one in my ear like in simulators."

And with that, like the other 87 F-35A pilots trained over the last four years here, Mau thundered down the runway and was airborne as the first woman in the Air Force's premier fighter....

...Mau acknowledged that although she may be the first female in the F-35 program, her gender has no bearing on her performance as a fighter pilot. She joked that the only difference between her and her fellow F-35 pilots is the size of her G-suit and facemask.

They are both extra-small.

"Flying is a great equalizer," said Mau. "The plane doesn't know or care about your gender as a pilot, nor do the ground troops who need your support. You just have to perform. That's all anyone cares about when you're up there - that you can do your job, and that you do it exceptionally well."

Mau's combat experience and technical prowess in the cockpit were the primary draws for her selection to her position with the 33rd OG....

...While with the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Mau was part of the first all-female combat sortie. The combat mission provided air support to coalition and Afghan forces in the Kunar Valley, Afghanistan. From the pilots and weapons system officers of the two F-15E jets to the mission planners and maintainers, the entire mission was carried out entirely by women.

"As a service, we need to attract the most innovative and skillful Airmen possible for one reason - it makes us more effective," said Canterbury. "The broader the net that we cast into the talent pool, coupled with a laser focus on performance, ensures we have the best Airmen in place to carry out the mission. Performance is key, and it's the standard we hold all of our Airmen to in the Air Force.""

Photo Caption: "Lt. Col. Christine Mau, 33rd Operations Group deputy commander, puts on her helmet before taking her first flight in the F-35A on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., May 5, 2015. Mau, who previously flew F-15E Strike Eagles, made history as the first female F-35 pilot in the program. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Marleah Robertson) http://www.eglin.af.mil/shared/media/ph ... 88-099.jpg & http://www.eglin.af.mil/shared/media/ph ... 88-659.jpg

Source: http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123447362

With some adhoc environmental testin' - gotta get that EGLIN salt off! http://www.eglin.af.mil/shared/media/ph ... 88-604.jpg

NO disrespect to the esteemed colonel MAU however I cannot get this song outta me head guv.

Mau's combat experience and technical prowess in the cockpit were the primary draws for her selection to her position with the 33rd OG....

...While with the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Mau was part of the first all-female combat sortie. The combat mission provided air support to coalition and Afghan forces in the Kunar Valley, Afghanistan. From the pilots and weapons system officers of the two F-15E jets to the mission planners and maintainers, the entire mission was carried out entirely by women.

Appropriate sortie name "Dudette07". LTC Mau's call sign is "Grinder".

Mau's combat experience and technical prowess in the cockpit were the primary draws for her selection to her position with the 33rd OG....

...While with the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Mau was part of the first all-female combat sortie. The combat mission provided air support to coalition and Afghan forces in the Kunar Valley, Afghanistan. From the pilots and weapons system officers of the two F-15E jets to the mission planners and maintainers, the entire mission was carried out entirely by women.

Appropriate sortie name "Dudette07". LTC Mau's call sign is "Grinder".

If her call sign was "Nut Cracker" it would've been more awesome.

I like to know how much the standards are lowered to let a woman through into training. Enough of this PC crap already.

I like to know how much the standards are lowered to let a woman through into training. Enough of this PC crap already.

PC has nothing to do with it; women are perfectly capable for roles such as this, provide the USAF with a greater pilot candidate pool and greater diversity in thought processes.

I dearly hope you're not a member of the armed forces.

I like to know how much the standards are lowered to let a woman through into training. Enough of this PC crap already.

how ****** dare you sir, when you say this you are accusing all of the IPs and Sefes of giving in to PC. You have obviously never been anywhere close to a combat fighter unit. Our very lives depend on the people we fly with. When you stare at someone on the other side of the briefing room, you are looking at the person who is going to save your life one day, and you teach them, mentor them, and yell at them accordingly. Regardless of any discriminators from your "perfect" world. Every person who flies a jet got there on merit or they get washed out of RTU or MQT. Welcome to the 21st century dipshit. put down your musket and join the crowd......or choke your self in a small cabin in the woods being bitter about how the crazy christian white man isn't supreme anymore.

The physical training standards for females in the US military are lower. They just are. This upsets people who may have to put their lives in the hands of said females because they are not held to the same requirements as males.

That said, I have had the pleasure to serve with many females who were every bit as, or more, capable than some of the males. Now that that is out of the way, the standards for JOBS are not different. If a female service member is allowed to have any given job in the first place then they are expected to perform the same as a male service member.

I weighed 300lb with my armor and gear and in training (i.e. no adrenaline surge) a (nominally) 130lb woman in my unit was able to drag me "to safety" when I was supposed to be a casualty. This same woman was able to do a 4-person litter carry with patients up to 500lb and load them in the back of our ambulances that had a 4.5ft load floor.

Now, all THAT said, this individual could also pass the male standards for the physical training tests.

In the cockpit? There is no reason to discriminate. Kudos on the assignment.

I like to know how much the standards are lowered to let a woman through into training. Enough of this PC crap already.

how ****** dare you sir, when you say this you are accusing all of the IPs and Sefes of giving in to PC. You have obviously never been anywhere close to a combat fighter unit. Our very lives depend on the people we fly with. When you stare at someone on the other side of the briefing room, you are looking at the person who is going to save your life one day, and you teach them, mentor them, and yell at them accordingly. Regardless of any discriminators from your "perfect" world. Every person who flies a jet got there on merit or they get washed out of RTU or MQT. Welcome to the 21st century dipshit. put down your musket and join the crowd......or choke your self in a small cabin in the woods being bitter about how the crazy christian white man isn't supreme anymore.

Um, calm down, Hillary. You simply took the bait on a troll post. Take a deep breath and dial down the monologue-ing.

- Frogs

I like to know how much the standards are lowered to let a woman through into training. Enough of this PC crap already.

how ****** dare you sir, when you say this you are accusing all of the IPs and Sefes of giving in to PC. You have obviously never been anywhere close to a combat fighter unit. Our very lives depend on the people we fly with. When you stare at someone on the other side of the briefing room, you are looking at the person who is going to save your life one day, and you teach them, mentor them, and yell at them accordingly. Regardless of any discriminators from your "perfect" world. Every person who flies a jet got there on merit or they get washed out of RTU or MQT. Welcome to the 21st century dipshit. put down your musket and join the crowd......or choke your self in a small cabin in the woods being bitter about how the crazy christian white man isn't supreme anymore.

Um, calm down, Hillary. You simply took the bait on a troll post. Take a deep breath and dial down the monologue-ing.

- Frogs

He's right. That was a douchebag statement. I don't think we're endangering anyone by putting women like her in the cockpit. It takes grit to be a girl in a nearly all-male crowd.

So you guys are too quick to forget about Lt. Kara Hultgreen? Given her landing performance she had absolutely no place in the front seat of a F-14. Look at how it turned out for her. In fact, look at the training for police and firefighters. Training standards for these were lowered watered down to allow women to pass these courses. And now all this PC crowd what women in special forces and infantry all for "gender quality". I fear for what will happen to the standards to allow women to pass these courses. In fact, the standards for the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program are already dropping.

http://sofrep.com/9028/why-are-standard ... n-program/

Women would get away with infractions that if a man were in that situation, he would be court martial-ed. Just look at the history of Captain Holly Graf. Also, you have the fact that female pilots have higher accident rates than men. I would be surprised if this pilot wasn't given special treatment and pampering during training due her being a woman. Back in the day journalists and interviewers would always seek out women to interview in order to bring out this PC "gender equality" crap.

I don't understand all this celebrating over her flying this aircraft. Great, so she's an F-35 pilot. Big deal, since men have been flying this since 2007. This is just part of the annoying trend from the PC mentality that we need to congratulate women for starting to do things that men can do for decades and centuries. So if a guy can do something, no big deal, but if a women can now just do the same, we must shower her with praise? Such hypocrisy. Not only that, sending women into combat is simply wrong. So what happens if she gets shot down or if a female soldier gets captured? Will this country be able to deal with the torture and rape that will surely follow?

More latrine rumors here.
http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/myths.html

Looks like sexism is alive and well in the U.S. in 2015.

I'm not positive but females have a 20% wider area of vision than males. They also see colors better. Id bet as a fighter pilot woman might have a natural advantage. When i crewed 16s it was common to see our female pilots go to special programs. It was also common for Male pilots to not know when they had bombs hanging on the wings.

In ww2 the Germans feared the Russian female pilots flying ww1 era planes, also, the Germans feared the deadly accurate female sniper squads. They called Russian female soldiers "mad witches" because they would fight to the last woman and were suicidally brave. Finally In Jesus times (200bc-200ad) , When the Romans met early Germanic tribes, they feared the women who fought at times harder than the men. It was also noted (by Tacitus) that when the German men would run the women would slay the shamed tribesmen, take their weapons and kill multiple Roman soldiers. Same goes for Mongol tribal women, and quite a few other cultural groups. I think the sexist sh*t was a recent invention. Racism and sexism should be ignored, its a waste of time..... That said, Im a male & i know the jokes.

On a side note, i too am curious how she got that call sign.