(Clockwise from lower left) 1stLt Alison, Capts Heather and Waynetta,
and Senior Airman Lyndi [Last names withheld for operational security.],
all from the 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, flew
an all-female KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling mission over Afghanistan
on Jan. 31.
Notice they are all blondes. This should throw a lot of the blonde
jokes out the window. This item also counters the thought about
women typically not working well together. Let this put that one
away as well! |
All branches of the armed forces were opened to women in 1948, but
it wasn’t until the Persian Gulf War that women served in combat
related roles. They manned Patriot Missile placements, flew helicopters
for reconnaissance and search and rescue missions and drove convoys
over the desert close to enemy positions. The National Defense Authorization
acts of 1993 and 1994 opened more than 90 percent of military occupations
to women, though they are still restricted from submarine duty and
assignments with a high probability of direct physical contact with
the enemy.
In one of her songs, country singer Shania Twain croons about all
the things women do these days-they are judges, politicians, doctors
and soldiers, to name a few. Not mentioned in the song, but occurring
more frequently as the global War on terrorism continues, is something
else: female fliers in combat missions over Afghanistan. Early on
Jan 31, a KC-135 Stratotanker took off from Ganci Air Base, Kyrgyzstan,
carrying more than 180,000 pounds of fuel and an all-female crew --
both pilots, a navigator and a boom operator. The event marked the
first all-female crew to fly an air refueling Mission in to Afghanistan
from Ganci. "We've been really lucky," said 1st Lt Alison,
the navigator on board. "You don't always deploy with a lot of
women. The fact that we have four women on this deployment, and the
fact that we make up a crew is amazing." After living with each
other in the same tent for almost two months, the women were eager
to fly on the same mission. "We've gotten along really well living
together, so we were very excited to finally be able to fly together,"
said Capt Waynetta, one of the two pilots on the mission.
The women, including the other pilot, Capt Heather, and the boom
operator, Senior Airman Lyndi, are all assigned to the 99th Air Refueling
Squadron at Robins Air Force Base,Ga. They have been deployed here
since Dec 9. Once inside the tanker, the women began their pre-flight
and take-off duties with an ease borne of plenty of experience and
skill. Most of them have deployed before, to places like Saudi Arabia,
Qatar, Iceland and Thailand. Between the four of them, they total
almost 4,000 flying hours in the KC-135. The flight path to Afghanistan
traversed three of the "Stans." The country itself remains
a dangerous place. Just a few days before the historic flight, coalition
forces on the ground encountered the heaviest fighting since Operation
Anaconda last year. Norwegian F-16s from Ganci dropped munitions in
support from the air. Once over Afghanistan, the crew got down to
business, refueling F-16s from the European participating air forces
of Denmark, the Netherlands aNd Norway. Based at Ganci, the aircraft
provide combat air support to coalition ground forces. The crew's
boom operator connected two moving aircraft together on a night with
1 percent moon illumination.
"It's awesome knowing that I'm having a direct impact on the
mission," said Lyndi on her 17th combat mission over Afghanistan.
"The fighters couldn't put bombs on target without gas, and I'm
the one who gets it to them," she said. More than 50,000 combat
missions have been flown in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In all, Lyndi refueled 10 European F-16s during the flight, off-loading
63,000 pounds of fuel. "I'm accomplishing something with my Air
Force career," said Alison. This is especially true in the case
of OEF, an operation that more than 1,800 women support, according
to the public affairs office at Central Air Forces, the air component
of U.S. Central Command. "I've always thought the greatest thing
I could do with my life was to serve my country and be willing to
die for it -- for my family, my neighbors, people I don't even know,"
Waynetta said. "Now, we're here supporting troops in Afghanistan
who are defending our freedom and way of life." Basking in the
early morning sunlight, the tanker headed back to Ganci. As the snow-capped
mountains poked out above the clouds, the women reflected on the significance
of the flight. "All we wanted was to fly together," said
Lyndi. "I'm so excited we got to do it." "We believe
in equality," Waynetta said. "But, the fact of the matter
is, we're still girls and we're doing something our grandmothers couldn't
do.
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