All-female crew takes flight as refueling mission goes 'unmanned'
BY MELISSA MURPHY / THE REPORTER
Posted: 08/20/2011
http://www.thereporter.com/ci_18723017?source=most_viewed
An "unmanned" Air Force KC-10 extender jet flew over Southwest Asia earlier this month on a refueling mission.
In a mostly male field, it's often that crews are staffed with men and rarely have women in control.
However, that all changed when two women from Travis Air Force Base and two women from the Joint Base
McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey joined together at the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron
in Southwest Asia to make the refueling mission truly "unmanned."
"It was awesome," said 1st Lt. Jen Carter, who is from Fairfield. "It was great how well we worked together and
to see how crew members from different bases run the mission. It was exciting for me because we rarely fly
with even one other female on the crew."
The deployment environment usually is a mostly male world. For a day though, a deployed
KC-10 Extender crew made it an all-female day, as all four crew positions were held by women, truly
making their mission "unmanned." Seen are Capt. Lindsey Bauer, 908th EARS, KC-10 aircraft commander,
1st Lt. Jen Carter, 908th EARS, KC-10 pilot, and Staff Sgt. Sarah Lockley, who is the only female KC-10
flight engineer. (Staff Sgt. Patrick Mitchell / U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Patrick Mitchell)