Division leading efforts to develop maternity flight suits

Comfortandsafetyare two priorities for an Air Force Life Cycle Management Center team, racingto develop maternity flight suits for female aircrew.

In September 2019, the Air Force updated its policy to reduce restrictions on pregnant aviators who perform flight duties and have uncomplicated pregnancies. This update allows many women the choice to keep performing flight duties during their pregnancy, maintain currency, and prevent postpartum re-qualification training.

To quickly providewomen with accommodating flight suits, the team is working a three-phased approach simultaneously, with the first phase being a temporary fix tomodify the one-piece (27/P) flight suit – currentlyworn by most aviators – and which is not specifically designed for pregnancy. This interim solution is currently being rolled out.

“This [temporary fix] is trying to give females something that allows them to continue to fly,” said Tracy Roan, chief of the Air ForceUniform Office, which falls under AFLCMC’s Human Systems Division. “Right now, we are finding out that females arewearing their spouse’s flight suits or they are ordering two or three sizes up. What ends up happening is that the flight suit they are wearing is large in a lot of areas. It’s extremely large in the chest, shoulders, and the sleeves are too long. Thismodificationwhile it’s not a 100percent perfect solution, accommodates without them having to buy something that is so large across the board.”

The second phase is the development of a novel onepiece maternity flight suit for femaleaviatorsthatwillaccommodate them throughout the entire pregnancy. It is being designed with extra fabric in front and adjustment tabs on the side to allow for growth.

Currently, the uniform is undergoing a number of tests, including burn and extended wear testing.