"To declare that we finally had enough pilots to fill the squadron and fly the jets out there and operate for six months was really kind of a testament to how quickly we got the squadron up and running and ready, and we were out the door," she said.Īs for her future, it hasn't been decided whether she'll go to a training unit or a combat-ready unit following the 2020-21 demo team season. The unit flew alongside the Marine Corps' F-35Bs operating out of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. was the first operational Air Force Squadron that we had" at Hill. "It was huge, for not only the F-35, but for the 34th Fighter Squadron, which. getting intel updates and daily statuses of anything in this theater, if North Korea is doing something," Wolfe said about the rotation to the air base in Okinawa. Wolfe has an earlier milestone under her belt: She was part of the Air Force's first squadron to deploy the F-35A to the Pacific in 2017. "That's kind of the message we try to share with everybody," she said. The demo show typically simulates how the F-35 can perform in combat. It could completely go to war the next week if we want it to," she said. Wolfe flies a combat-ready fifth-generation jet even as a demo pilot. "The biggest difference is just my focus," she said. Still, she is taking to the skies more often at Hill to get her flight hours in, and helping out with instructing where she can.Ī former F-22 Raptor pilot, Wolfe can use her skillset flying for audiences at air shows or for an overseas deployment.
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Wolfe admits that it has not been the easiest task, with many air shows canceled amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
![female fighter pilot female fighter pilot](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/dc/fb/7edcfb688ce468b3deb6b53e6d05fb73.jpg)
" my only mission as a demo pilot is for us to just get on the road to show off the F-35," she added. "It just gets narrower and narrower as you get into the pilot community and then the fighter pilot community. "In the military, females are outnumbered in general," said Wolfe, a military brat whose father was an F-15C Eagle pilot. One full-time aviator and a student pilot fly the F-35B, while another student in the training pipeline flies the F-35C, according to service spokesman Capt Joseph Butterfield. The Marine Corps has three female pilots currently flying the F-35. The Navy currently has two female F-35C pilots - one is an instructor at the Strike Fighter Squadron 125, and the other is an F-35C weapons school instructor, Naval Air Forces said in a recent email. The other military branches have even fewer female F-35 pilots. By comparison, there are 286 active-duty male pilots flying the F-35 in the service.
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There are 11 active-duty female F-35A pilots as of earlier this month, according to the Air Force. Kristin "BEO" Wolfe, the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team pilot, prepares for takeoff prior to a practice flight at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Feb.