First for the Blues

[Let'sgoflying!]

The story didn't say, but do you know if it was Lyme disease?

She notes Borrelia & Bartonella

 

[Jeff767]

Life for a woman in Naval Aviation is hell. It’s hard enough to live on a carrier as a guy…. I
was in the squadron when the first wave of women allowed to fly in combat units came through, so I knew most all of them, we went to flight school together.

It is a weirdly hyper masculine world. Far from insurmountable, but I can see where there would simply be fewer suited to it. Also, it’s much more demanding from a flying standpoint, and flatly pretty damn scary, that’s gonna reduce the number who will make it.

I don’t know about the Tbirds, but the blues choose from within, period. It ain’t a matter of flying skill, but whether you’re “best friend” material. They live, breathe, eat, sleep, EVERYTHING together. I have a couple buds that when we wrench together we just anticipate each other’s actions, never even ask for a hand, tool, nothing. Well, ALL SEVEN of them do that. It’s pretty amazing. As probs and stats go, multiply these together, it simply took longer and politics weren’t allowed to make it happen quicker.

Navy Air tried that once and we had the Holtgren incident… which was tragic.

Not to mention the most recent F35 accident. There is no place to hide in Naval Aviation fighter community. It’s quickly apparent who can get on and off the boat and who can employ the jet to its maximum capability. It’s even more apparent who can’t.

 

[35 AoA]

Not to mention the most recent F35 accident. There is no place to hide in Naval Aviation fighter community. It’s quickly apparent who can get on and off the boat and who can employ the jet to its maximum capability. It’s even more apparent who can’t.

And to be even more specific, I'll always remember the wisdom an old skipper of mine told me before my first deployment. Something along the lines of "nobody is going to see or care what you do outside 10 miles, you are going to be solely judged by your conduct in the case 1 stack and behind the boat". He was absolutely right. Of course there is more (as you mention) to a Naval Aviator's rep than this, but also like you say, there is absolutely nowhere to hide while under the microscope of the boat.