Female Pilots

[DomerDad]

How many female pilots are in the USAF by number and percentage of the total? Is there a breakdown between active duty and reserves? Just curious.

 

[flieger83]

In 2020, the active-duty Air Force had 12,395 pilots, 3,313 navigators, and 1,343 air battle managers at the lieutenant colonel level and below as of Oct. 31, 2020, according to AFPC. Of those, women accounted for 838 pilots, 375 navigators, and 252 air battle managers.

 

[Wishful]

@DomerDad The female pilots seem to be a tight group starting in UPT.

 

[mascara_mom]

@DomerDad The female pilots seem to be a tight group starting in UPT.

My son just graduated from UPT. Had 2 females graduate in his class. The after party that night, there were a few other females that graduated a few weeks prior and they were all together having the best time.

 

[MidCakePa]

In one of the books written about the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, there’s a story of a warlord whose fighters rode alongside the famed “horse soldiers” — U.S. Special Forces who were the first on the ground.

With the enemies facing each other across a valley, the Americans called in an air strike that was executed by an Air Force AC-130 gunship. The allied warlord overheard an American soldier communicating with the gunship’s commander, who happened to be a woman. Upon realizing this, the warlord called the opposing warlord on his cellphone — yes, he really did — and taunted him with one of the lowest insults possible in that culture. To paraphrase: “You’re being bombed by a woman, you bumbling idiot! A woman! Ha, ha, ha!”

For the female officer above, I’m guessing it was just another day on the job.

 

[USAFA10s]

I am pretty sure I know the officer flying that plane! My AOC at USAFA was the first woman to fly (or maybe command? not certain) an AC-130. Timing seems about right for that. She was awesome, retired pretty recently as an O-6.