Officer becomes the Navy’s first Black female tactical fighter pilot
Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle made history by becoming the U.S. Navy’s first Black female tactical fighter pilot.
The chief of Naval Air Training congratulated Swegle Thursday on Facebook for completing her training and said she will receive her “Wings of Gold” this month.
“BZ to Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle on completing the Tactical Air (Strike) aviator syllabus,” the post read, using the abbreviation for Bravo Zulu, which means “well done.”
Swegle earned praise from Rear Adm. Paula Dunn, the Navy’s vice chief of information, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, DMass., and tennis icon Billie Jean King.
“Very proud of LTJG Swegle,” Dunn tweeted. “Go forth and kick butt.”
Swegle graduated the U.S. Naval Academy in 2017 and is assigned to the Redhawks of Training Squadron (VT) 21 at Naval Air Station Kingsville in Texas, according to the Navy Times.
The news of Swegle’s achievement came the same day a female soldier graduated from the Army’s elite Special Forces course, becoming the first woman to join a Green Beret team.
Swegle’s milestone comes more than 45 years after Rosemary Mariner became the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet in 1974, The Associated Press reported. It wasn’t until the 1980s that Brenda Robinson became the first African American woman to earn her Wings of Gold and become a Navy flight instructor, evaluator and VIP transport pilot, according to Women in Aviation International.
An investigation in 2018 from Military.com found that out of 1,404 F/A-18 Hornet pilots, just 26 were Black and 33 were female. Less than 2% of all pilots assigned to jet platforms were Black, the outlet reported.
Last month, the Navy announced the formation of “Task Force One Navy” to address the issues of “racism, sexism and other destructive biases and their impact on naval readiness.”
“As a Navy – uniform and civilian, active and reserve – we cannot tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind,” Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday said in a statement.