June 17, 2005

Two Women


Capt. Nicole Malachowski will be the No. 3 right wing pilot in the Thunderbirds, the USAF's crack flight demonstration team.

The 1996 Air Force Academy graduate will be the first female demonstration pilot in the Thunderbirds’ 52 year history. In fact, she’s the first female demonstration pilot on any U.S. military high performance jet team. An F-15E pilot assigned to RAF Lakenheath’s 494th Fighter Squadron, Malachowski just returned from a deployment in Southwest Asia and was on leave when she received the news.

“It’s a great privilege to be given the opportunity to be a part of the Thunderbird team, an organization that represents the finest traditions of our Air Force,” the Las Vegas native said in a press release.

“Women have been an integral part of the Thunderbird team for decades. The women of yesterday and today’s Air Force maintain a tradition of excellence, and it is that heritage that has given me this exciting responsibility of being the first female Thunderbird pilot.”

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, a military police officer in the Kentucky National Guard, became the first female soldier awarded the Silver Star since World War II, for her role in thwarting an Iraqi insurgent ambush in March, the military said Thursday.

In a 90-minute firefight, Sergeant Hester and handful of other Guard soldiers fought off more than 30 insurgents armed with assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades after the force attacked a supply convoy southeast of Baghdad. The Americans killed 27 and wounded or captured 7 others, the military said. Sergeant Hester, 23, a store manager in Nashville in civilian life, and seven other members of her unit, the 617th Military Police Company, received medals on Thursday in Baghdad from Lt. Gen. John R. Vines of the Army, the American ground commander in Iraq.

She is believed to be the first woman to receive the Silver Star, the Army's third-highest award for gallantry, in more than 60 years, said Martha Rudd, a spokeswoman for the Army. Mary Roberts Wilson was the first woman given a Silver Star, for gallantry at the Battle of Anzio in World War II.

About 140 Silver Stars have been awarded for bravery in Iraq.



Raging RINOs - supporting our women military heroes since June 16, 2005.


Posted by Commissar at June 17, 2005 08:59 AM | TraktorBack (2)
Decision '08 linked with Quick Shots: RINOs Love Women on Jun 17
The World Wide Rant - v3.0 linked with Around the Blogosphere on Jun 17
Confessions

We've come a long way, I hope, since the days of the late Kara Hultgreen, and the accusations of affirmative action incompentence that swirled after her death.

Extracted from: The Sanity Inspector at June 17, 2005 11:15 AM

Hubba hubba. Just think, she's smokin' hot and more of a man than kos, who was in the Army and suddenly discovered that he couldn't be deployed to Desert Storm because he was a pacifist. Is that whay they used to call a coward?

Extracted from: Improbulus Maximus at June 17, 2005 11:42 PM