Another First

There is a discussion in the article about the dirth of Black pilots of either sex in the Navy. However, it seems a bit lame to emphasize that instead of acknowledging the difficulty of learning to fly an aviation vehicle that is touchier than a rabid skunk and twice as likely to kill you as not. You can either handle the job, or you can’t.

Flying a glider is a hoot, because you can tell how much it loves the air, as some planes do, but it is nothing remotely close to flying a touchy, bad-tempered, stubby-winged fighter  jet.  Calling attention to the pilot’s physical characteristics instead of emphasizing the accomplishment of becoming someone who can handle that kind of machine as if it were a pit bull with obedience training is ridiculous.  I do not envy the men or women who fly those snarling, howling machines, because they are targets from the first moment they take off. But I will always willingly recognize the necessity of their accomplishments, because without them in the cockpits, we are almost easy prey.

So “booyah!” to LTJG Swegle, and may she live long and prosper as a Navy pilot.