Senate confirms Barrett to be Air Force secretary

[spazsinbad]

Senate confirms Barrett to be Air Force secretary
16 Oct 2019 Charles Pope, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

"WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Barbara Barrett to be the 25th Secretary of the Air Force, Oct. 16, clearing the way for the experienced pilot and former ambassador to lead the service as it faces new threats globally and in space. The 85 to 7 vote makes Barrett the third consecutive woman confirmed to lead the Air Force and its 685,000 total force Airmen. Barrett replaces Heather Wilson who resigned in May. Undersecretary Matthew Donovan served as acting secretary in the interim.

“I can think of no position that offers more excitement, challenge and meaning than the secretary of the Air Force,” Barrett said, after the vote. “Our Air Force is the best in the world because of extraordinary Airmen and civilians with whom I am now proud to serve.”...

...Barrett echoed a set of priorities that have been often described by the Air Force’s civilian and military leadership. She emphasized the need for robust modernization to recover from budget cuts in previous years. She offered unequivocal support for expanding the fleet of F-35 Lightning II aircraft. “The F-35,” she told senators, “is our future and we need it. And we need it sustainably.”…

...She gained notice as the first civilian woman to land in an F-18 Hornet on an aircraft carrier, riding in the back seat...."

Source: https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display ... secretary/

[magitsu]

You were the first civilian woman to land in an FA-18 Hornet on an aircraft carrier. How did that happen?

I was a civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A law had been passed in 1948 that women could fly tankers and transports but not fighters or bombers or aircraft “engaged in combat.” We worked to get the law changed. There was a Navy admiral who had daughters [and was] not one to be told girls can’t do these things; he invited me to train and qualify to fly an F-18 Hornet. I had the privilege of landing on the Nimitz.

What was the fun part of serving as ambassador to Finland?

I bicycled across Finland, rounded up reindeer, dogsledded, downhill and cross-country skied, snowmobiled, helicoptered. They fly American-made F-18s and the Chief of Staff of their Air Force challenged me to a dogfight over northern Finland.

https://www.bjtonline.com/business-jet- ... ra-barrett

Pic of Barrett with FiAF F/A-18D when she was US embassador to Finland in 2008–2009.
https://twitter.com/luotoja/status/1131329773995798528

[outlaw162]

An interesting lady. Must be very sharp.

Bio says married to an ex-CEO of Intel, back-up 'space tourist' for a Soyuz flight to ISS for which the primary, the Circ De Soleil CEO, paid $35mil....money is a wonderful thing....reindeer, F-18s and boats aside, her most daring endeavor to my mind was Deputy Administrator of the constantly maligned FAA, for her a relatively low paying, thankless job, where you can only break even or lose. Good luck to her with USAF.

edit: To avoid offending the Canucks, it appears it's Cirque Du Soleil. )

[spazsinbad]

Cirque Du Soleil? Must name the Canadian Government F-35A procurement CIRQUE DES LIGHTeNINGS.