First female F-22 pilot
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Posted a new article today ,which is dated from July 17th. First female operational & combat-ready F-22 pilot
Seattlepi.com wrote:Gender doesn't matter behind the controls of a lethal fighter jet
By MIKE BARBER
P-I REPORTER
Friday, July 18, 2008
Last updated 12:36 p.m. PT
(Editor's Note: Air Force Capt. Jammie Jamieson is the first combat-ready woman fighter pilot to qualify for the F-22A Raptor. An earlier version of this story suggested she was the first female Raptor pilot. A woman test pilot flew the Raptor before her.)
As top military fighters descend on Tacoma and Seattle air shows to spotlight their flying skills during the next few weeks, they will be joined by some very talented women.
At McChord Air Force Base, two from the nation's growing group of female fighter pilots will appear this weekend, building on the hard-fought legacy of flying women such as the famed Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II -- the WASPs.
Maj. Samantha Weeks, 32, a member of the Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team, will handle the lead solo F-16 Fighting Falcon jet in two Air Expo 2008 performances at McChord Air Force Base this weekend.
Joining Weeks is a Washington native, Air Force Capt. Jammie Jamieson, 30, who serves with the 525th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. She is the first combat-ready woman fighter pilot to qualify to fly the nation's newest fighter plane, the F-22A Raptor.
It took 10 months of training after flying F-15Cs for three years in Alaska to transition to the F-22A, said Jamieson, who will be available to chat at McChord this weekend.
Jamieson called the Raptor "a highly lethal, highly survivable tactical aircraft with a much improved human interface and a very sophisticated avionics suite."
She grew up in Prosser and earned a nomination to the Air Force Academy in 1996. She received a degree in aeronautical engineering in 2000, then a graduate degree in public policy from Harvard. She is married to a fighter pilot who teaches at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Like other women who have begun flying combat missions since restrictions were lifted in 1993, Jamieson sees herself as a fighter pilot and officer in the U.S. armed forces, period.
"Either you can meet the standards and do the job or you cannot. In this life-or-death business, my demographic is irrelevant," Jamieson said.
"The two things that bring me (or any other fighter pilot) safely home from missions every day are my knowledge of the aircraft and my ability to physically execute the necessary tactics -- my gender, race, religion, etc. have nothing to do with it."
Although the WASPs flew in World War II, it wasn't until 1974 that women in the U.S. military could be naval aviators, and Army and Air Force helicopter and jet pilots -- but not combat pilots. The Navy and Army took the first steps. The Air Force lifted its restrictions in 1976.
The first female fatality in a combat zone was Army Maj. Marie T. Rossi, 32, with the 101st Airborne division. Rossi died when her Chinook helicopter crashed Mar. 1, 1991, during the first hours of Desert Storm.
After 1993, the first female aviator cleared for combat, Navy Lt. Kara S. Hultgreen, lost her life Oct. 25, 1994, when her F-14 Tomcat crashed off the California coast. In March 2003, Marine Corps Capt. Vernice Armour, now 35, became the first African-American woman in any branch to fly into combat, during the invasion of Iraq.
The Air Force now has an estimated 14,000 pilots, including nearly 3,700 fighter pilots and of that, 70 are women.
At McChord, the Thunderbirds' Weeks represents the second woman flying with the group. She succeeds the first military woman ever to fly with any military high-performance demonstration team, Maj. Nicole Malachowski in 2005.
In Seattle, meanwhile, the Navy's precision flying team, the Blue Angels, is expected for its annual performance at Seafair Aug. 2 and 3.
When Jamieson watches either demonstration team, "I don't think about who is in the cockpit of each plane, I just assess their performance -- and feel thankful that I don't have to fly that close to the ground on a daily basis!" she said.
Flying high-performance aircraft is physically and mentally demanding.
"Particularly in the high G-force world of air-to-air dogfighting," Jamieson said. "Every fighter pilot must pass a high-G-force screening riding in a centrifuge before ever touching an actual fighter aircraft."
There's ground work, too, successfully completing recurring combat survival and evasion training.
What does it take to be a fighter pilot? In addition to being medically qualified mentally competent and physically capable, Jamieson's short answer for kids is:
"You basically need to work hard, get a college education and a military commission, be mentally and physically prepared, and excel at actually flying."
source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/371 ... cks18.html
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Asif Shamim
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
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Found this older photo posted elsewhere in the forum.
Four F-15 Eagle pilots from the 3rd Wing walk to their respective jets at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 5, for the finil flight of Maj. Andrea Misener (far left). To her right are Capt. Jammie Jamieson, Maj. Carey Jones and Capt. Samantha Weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Keith Brown)
Four F-15 Eagle pilots from the 3rd Wing walk to their respective jets at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 5, for the finil flight of Maj. Andrea Misener (far left). To her right are Capt. Jammie Jamieson, Maj. Carey Jones and Capt. Samantha Weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Keith Brown)
Asif Shamim
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
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Plus this from the Elmendorf website in the April 4th edition of Sourdough Sentinel
Asif Shamim
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
F-16.net Editorial staff & Patch Gallery Administration
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Capt. Jamieson is the first OPERATIONAL pilot, but Lt Col Dawn Dunlop was the first female to fly the Raptor. She was a flight test pilot at EAFB and assumed command of operational squadron at EAFB for about a year or two.
See this previous post for a photo of Lt Col Dunlop overflying the Air Force Academy.
See this previous post for a photo of Lt Col Dunlop overflying the Air Force Academy.
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Jammie Jamieson, the first female to qualify to fly the F/A-22 Raptor
As mentioned above, Jammie Jamieson is not even CLOSE to being the first female to qualify to fly the Raptor. Dawn Dunlop was not only the first female Raptor pilot, but she is a USAF Test Pilot School graduate, instructor, and was one of the earliest USAF pilots to fly the Raptor. She was involved in much of the early development and test flying for the F-22.
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Hey I noticed that Raptor_DCTR and my as well as a few other folks' scomments are gone. I know they are not exactly the most polite thing to say but she is a "public figure" and this is a public forum. I love this forum and please remember its just a blog. If I give an opionion don't censor it; instead agree with it, argue with it, or just ignore it.
AMERICA: numba 1 best!
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I agree with afnsucks.....censoring is for communists
We did not censor anything as such, we simply don't allow forum members to attack individuals, while hiding behind a username.
While it is against the forum guidelines it also goes against any basic courteousness.
We won't debate this but just consider how would you feel if you read about any of your family members on a public forum? And what if you read about yourself?
PS: Our mistake, we should have posted this message earlier even if just to explain why posts were removed. One of them mods actually thought he did but somehow the posting failed.
While it is against the forum guidelines it also goes against any basic courteousness.
We won't debate this but just consider how would you feel if you read about any of your family members on a public forum? And what if you read about yourself?
Forum Guidelines wrote:Respect the privacy of others: do not post personal information on other members,
PS: Our mistake, we should have posted this message earlier even if just to explain why posts were removed. One of them mods actually thought he did but somehow the posting failed.
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So people who actually have worked with her can't share their experiences, but we can look at pictures of her with her grandma? ...okay?
"A visitor from Mars could easily pick out the civilized nations. They have the best implements of war."
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I understand both sides of the argument and am certainly against censorship. However, deleting comments on a privately owned forum that already has specific rules against that type of posting is NOT censorship. This is a common mistake people make. You cannot be censored by US law in a public capacity, but you don't have the right to stand on someones lawn, make statements, and then call it censorship when they kick you off their property. Anyone is free to make an "I worked with and dislike......" forum for themselves. This is, quite frankly, an F-16 (and other a/c) forum for the discussion of technical stuff, stories, info. etc. Posting a picture of an F-16, F-22, F-35 pilot (as long as it's not disrespectful) would also fall under the auspices of this forum.
In short, in the US your allowed to preach off your soap box but no one has to provide you with a soap box or is required to let you use their soap box.
In short, in the US your allowed to preach off your soap box but no one has to provide you with a soap box or is required to let you use their soap box.
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