On Thursday morning, the Navy rolled out its plans for the Tremendous Bowl this weekend with a splash — a phase on the nation’s most watched morning present that proclaimed an all-female crew of aviators would make a historic flight on the large recreation.
What neither the Navy nor “Good Morning America” talked about, nevertheless, was that the announcement marked a change of plans as to how the service would honor 50 years of girls sailors flying.
When the Navy first stated that it could be performing the Tremendous Bowl flyover, it was in a much more humble press launch put out Jan. 27, 2023. It featured a lineup of 15 aviators — solely three of whom had been ladies and who’re all flight officers, not pilots.
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Though that plan did not include prime TV spots, the service did launch the names of the pilots and a set of “buying and selling playing cards” with their photographs on its picture database. Navy-focused retailers like USNI News reported on the lineup on the time.
There have been additionally posts on most of the Navy’s social media pages, too.
Whereas most of those posts at the moment are gone, a handful, full with feedback declaring the shortage of girls in an occasion aimed toward commemorating them, stay.
Cmdr. Zach Harrell, spokesman for the commander of Naval Air Forces, informed Navy.com in a cellphone name Thursday that the January announcement was not closing however slightly “preliminary data on the aircrew” that was “launched earlier than we had settled on the ultimate lineup.”
The brand new plan, as described in a Navy doc that is dated Feb. 12, now options 16 aviators, together with 11 feminine pilots and flight officers. The plan is even sorted by gender and highlights the enlisted floor crew that’s supporting the plane and aviators as nicely.
Harrell defined that 4 planes — two F/A-18F Tremendous Hornets, an E/A-18 Growler and an F-35C Lightning II — with seven feminine aviators aboard will make the precise flyover Sunday.
The additional 9 aviators are within the plan to permit for last-minute substitutions or modifications to the proposed lineup.
Harrell stated that, whereas the plan was at all times to commemorate ladies in naval aviation, the Navy hit some logistical hurdles alongside the best way.
“There are a number of challenges concerned in gathering aviators from a number of totally different squadrons, and with ladies as 20% of the inhabitants within the Navy, it makes it more durable,” he defined.
Regardless of first permitting ladies to coach to change into pilots in 1973, the Navy has struggled with feminine illustration amongst its aviators. Girls had been additionally restricted to coaching and different non-combat roles till 1993.
As Harrell famous, the general share of girls within the sea service is round 20%, however most experiences put the proportion of feminine Navy pilots someplace between 7% and 12%, relying on the yr.
The Navy has had feminine pilots make notable achievements. Final summer time, its aerial demonstration squadron — the Blue Angels — introduced that it had chosen its first feminine jet pilot within the unit’s 76-year historical past. In 2021, Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, additionally a Navy pilot, turned the primary feminine commander of an plane service.
“The entire focus for us is to actually put out a lineup that helps us reinforce the message that we’re commemorating the ladies which are serving in naval aviation,” Harrell stated.
— Konstantin Toropin may be reached at konstantin.toropin@navy.com. Observe him on Twitter @ktoropin.
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