“She has joined a select group of people who earned Wings of Gold and answered the call to defend our nation from the air. DeWolfe “Bullet” Miller III, the commander of Naval Air Forces. Swegle has proven to be a courageous trailblazer,” said Vice Adm. A strike pilot flies the Navy’s strike aircraft, including fighter jets like the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, or the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Swegle became the Navy’s first Black female strike pilot after completing tactical strike training at NAS Kingsville on July 7.
I hope it’s encouraging to other people.” “It would’ve been nice to see someone who looked like me in this role I never intended to be the first. “I’m excited to have this opportunity to work harder and fly high performance jet aircraft in the fleet,” Swegle said. Swegle was named a naval aviator and awarded her gold naval aviator wings with 25 classmates during a small ceremony at Naval Air Station Kingsville in Texas, according to the Navy. Madeline Swegle, received her “wings of gold” on Friday, marking a historic milestone for naval aviation. We must work to identify and eliminate individual and systemic racism within our force," Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday said in a statement.The US Navy’s first Black female tactical aircraft pilot, Lt. "As a Navy – uniform and civilian, active and reserve – we cannot tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind. Last month, the Navy announced the formation of "Task Force One Navy" to address the issues of "racism, sexism and other destructive biases and their impact on naval readiness." Less than 2% of all pilots assigned to jet platforms were Black, the outlet reported.įirst female Green Beret: Soldier becomes first woman to join Green Berets after graduating from Special Forces training
It wasn't until the 1980s that Brenda Robinson became the first African American woman to earn her Wings of Gold and become a Navy flight instructor, evaluator and VIP transport pilot, according to Women in Aviation International.Īn investigation in 2018 from found that out of 1,404 F/A-18 Hornet pilots, just 26 were Black and 33 were female. Swegle's milestone comes more than 45 years after Rosemary Mariner became the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet in 1974, The Associated Press reported. The news of Swegle's achievement came the same day a female soldier graduated from the Army's elite Special Forces course, becoming the first woman to join a Green Beret team. Naval Academy in 2017 and is assigned to the Redhawks of Training Squadron (VT) 21 at Naval Air Station Kingsville in Texas, according to the Navy Times. "Very proud of LTJG Swegle," Dunn tweeted. "Go forth and kick butt." Paula Dunn, the Navy’s vice chief of information, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and tennis legend Billie Jean King. Madeline Swegle on completing the Tactical Air (Strike) aviator syllabus," the post read, using the abbreviation for Bravo Zulu, which means "well done." The chief of Naval Air Training congratulated Swegle Thursday on Facebook for completing her training and said she will receive her "Wings of Gold" this month. Navy's first Black female tactical fighter pilot. Madeline Swegle made history by becoming the U.S.
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