US Navy announces its first Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot

Team Udayavani, Jul 13, 2020, 4:11 PM IST

U.S. Navy announced its first Black female tactical fighter pilot. Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle. She will receive her “Wings of Gold” in late July

Swegle, a Naval Academy graduate, the first known Black woman has been certified for the TACAIR mission, and she could go on to fly fighters such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler or F-35C Joint Strike Fighter

BZ to Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle on completing the Tactical Air (Strike) aviator syllabus. Swegle is the @USNavy’s first known Black female TACAIR pilot and will receive her Wings of Gold later this month. HOOYAH! @FlyNavy @NASKPAO #ForgedByTheSea #CNATRA #CNATRAgrads pic.twitter.com/FKSlURWQhJ

— Naval Air Training (@CNATRA) July 9, 2020

The announcement comes more than four decades after women first received their wings in the Navy. Capt.

In 1974, Rosemary B. Mariner, the first woman to command an operational naval aviation squadron