Female Fighters Display Lethal, Effective Force
by Senior Airman Susan Penning
Air Force News
June 27, 2005
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. - The House Armed Services Committee approved a bill recently which puts a Pentagon policy from 1994 into federal law prohibiting females in the military to serve in units below brigade level whose primary mission is direct ground combat.
Although the policy has raised the eyebrows of supporters of women in combat roles, many people may not realize the Air Force confidently assigns women to combat aircraft positions, said Col. Philip Ruhlman, 20th Fighter Wing commander here.
"Our women fighter pilots in the Air Force are fully qualified and continue to fly in combat alongside their male counterparts," he said. "They do so with lethal and effective force against our adversaries."
Capt. Gina Jennings, currently deployed from the 20th Operations Support Squadron to Southwest Asia, has flown multiple combat missions. One of her primary duties at her deployed location is monitoring the air tasking order and all elements of generating combat missions.
"The training we get as pilots more than prepares us for combat," Captain Jennings said. "We begin first on the ground through training such as simulators, academics, intelligence, escape and evasion, chemical warfare, weapons and threats. In the air, we train and fly every day preparing for combat. With the multiple missions of the F-16 (Fighting Falcon), we ensure we are ready to execute any mission we are given."
Captain Jennings is one of 76 women flying fighter aircraft for the Air Force, according to current Air Force Personnel Center statistics.
Maj. Jill Long, assigned to the U.S. Central Command Air Forces commander's action group, is another. She is an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot who has seen her share of combat.
Her most recent experience was inOperation Enduring Freedom when she said she ensured fighters, bombers and attack aircraft had the necessary air support to guarantee the safety of servicemembers on the ground.
On a previous combat mission, she said she provided close-air support, nontraditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and strike capabilities for the ground commander.
"We got a request for air support (during one of the combat missions)," she said. "We were able to redirect assets to the location, but it was a pretty big fight. Having been through several similar situations, I knew to always hope for the best, a quick resolution, but plan for the worst, a long-term, full-up battle. The weather was very poor, so we were extremely limited in what was flying. Through coordination and teamwork we were able to make it all work."
The male pilots who fly beside women like Major Long and Captain Jennings get a firsthand look at what they bring to the fight.
"Women are an integral part of our air and space team," said Maj. Anthony Roberson, 20th OSS operations director. "I have witnessed their excellence in combat and their (effect) on our total force. Captain Jennings is dictating the pace of combat as we speak. We were asked to put our best foot forward in support of (Operation Iraqi Freedom), and we did that by sending (Captain) Jennings."
Major Long's perspective on women in combat supports Major Roberson's "team" concept.
"There is a mission to be accomplished, and we are all expected to make that happen regardless of our (gender)," she said. "The fact that I'm a female doesn't make me special. A bullet, bomb or missile has no clue what gender is (using) it."
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,usaf2_062705.00.html?ESRC=airforce.nl
