All-mom flight of Air Force F-15 fighter pilots takes to the skies

[rangerrebew]

All-mom flight of Air Force F-15 fighter pilots takes to the skies
“When I joined the Air Force, I didn’t know any fighter pilot moms.”

BY DAVID ROZA | PUBLISHED NOV 22, 2022 8:53 AM
 

It’s tough to be a mother in the military, let alone be a mother and a fighter pilot in the military. That’s why it was remarkable when four fighter pilots who also happen to be moms took to the skies above Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina in their F-15E Strike Eagles earlier this month.

The special flight was in honor of Maj. Tiffany McElroy, an instructor weapons systems officer with the 333rd Fighter Squadron who has a 16-month-old daughter and is taking a break from F-15E flying to teach undergraduate combat systems officers.

It was not clear which of the other moms were front-seat pilots or back-seat ‘wizzos’ like McElroy, but either way, having so many fighter jet aviators who are also moms in the air at once is a major accomplishment.

“When I joined the Air Force, I didn’t know any fighter pilot moms,” said McElroy in a press release about the flight.  “After going through almost three years of training to become qualified in the jet, I understand why. You put your entire heart into the upgrades, and you work 12 hours a day, easily. Once you are qualified, you look forward to the trips and combat missions, and most of us spend more time at a hotel than in our own beds, which makes having a family more difficult.”

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-fighter-pilot-mom/

[Timber Rattler]

So what's the priority here for them...starting a family and raising their children, or defending the country?

[rustynail]

Are their children trans?  If not why not?

[GtHawk]

So what's the priority here for them...starting a family and raising their children, or defending the country?

Hmmm, so men who enlist shouldn't have families?  it's an either or proposition, or just for women?

[Timber Rattler]

No, but read the story.  The whole premise is that these women pilots are having to make trade-offs because they are moms, and are necessarily having to put motherhood ahead of their critical national security jobs as fighter pilots, because of biology and all that.  Being a fighter pilot in the military is not just another job in which you have to juggle your working hours and your baby sitter.  It's a 24/7 scramble-on-a-moment's notice type of career, that these women are unable to fully commit to, according to the story.  It's just life.