WEBVTT 00:00.240 --> 00:03.800 the culture for women in the Air force 00:03.800 --> 00:05.967 and aviation as a whole , I think it's 00:05.967 --> 00:08.610 something that's evolving . So what I 00:08.610 --> 00:12.150 mean by that is in a traditionally male 00:12.150 --> 00:14.440 dominated career field like being a 00:14.440 --> 00:16.560 fighter pilot , we have all these 00:16.570 --> 00:19.840 traditions which are great . However a 00:19.840 --> 00:22.150 lot of them are not very inclusive so 00:22.160 --> 00:26.100 as we go forward in really getting more 00:26.100 --> 00:28.350 and more women into the career fields 00:28.350 --> 00:31.050 that revolve around aviation , I think 00:31.510 --> 00:33.900 some of those traditions are changing 00:34.200 --> 00:36.370 to match the people that we now have 00:36.380 --> 00:39.160 their , I think there are some barriers 00:39.170 --> 00:41.740 for women becoming aviators . Um I 00:41.740 --> 00:43.518 think the most important one is 00:43.518 --> 00:45.684 representation . So you know we've got 00:45.684 --> 00:47.629 the movies , we've got the fighter 00:47.629 --> 00:49.740 pilots and um kind of the heroes that 00:49.740 --> 00:51.796 you can paint the picture of what it 00:51.796 --> 00:53.796 looks like to be a pilot in the Air 00:53.796 --> 00:53.350 force or be an aviator in the civilian 00:53.350 --> 00:57.050 world to its predominantly male . So um 00:57.060 --> 00:59.060 like I know for myself specifically 00:59.240 --> 01:01.430 when I was a kid I saw the blue angels 01:01.440 --> 01:03.607 and I thought it was the coolest thing 01:03.607 --> 01:05.829 and I got their autograph and they felt 01:05.829 --> 01:08.051 like celebrities to me but there wasn't 01:08.051 --> 01:10.107 a female on the team and I never saw 01:10.107 --> 01:11.996 myself doing that so I would lean 01:11.996 --> 01:14.218 towards you know what I want to do when 01:14.218 --> 01:14.040 I grow up , it was things that I had 01:14.040 --> 01:16.480 seen women doing . Um that was an 01:16.480 --> 01:18.424 awesome job in my opinion . I just 01:18.424 --> 01:20.480 never pictured myself doing it and I 01:20.480 --> 01:22.591 think it's because I didn't have that 01:22.591 --> 01:25.390 representation as a kid you're growing 01:25.390 --> 01:28.200 up in a certain part of the country or 01:28.210 --> 01:31.690 um in a household or school where all 01:31.690 --> 01:34.750 you see or just males that are 01:34.750 --> 01:37.770 aviators or women doing certain things 01:37.770 --> 01:39.992 and mail's doing other things . You can 01:39.992 --> 01:42.159 get that impression as a young child . 01:42.159 --> 01:45.250 Oh this may not be for you . So 01:45.740 --> 01:49.080 uh for me um I didn't realized aviation 01:49.080 --> 01:51.520 was even a possibility until I was much 01:51.520 --> 01:54.030 older . I didn't cross my mind as a kid . 01:55.740 --> 01:57.907 I think that there definitely are some 01:57.907 --> 02:00.129 barriers to women becoming aviators . I 02:00.129 --> 02:02.240 think part of it is just a perception 02:02.240 --> 02:04.296 thing . I think that there are not a 02:04.296 --> 02:06.518 lot of women young women out there that 02:06.518 --> 02:08.462 know that they can become a female 02:08.462 --> 02:10.684 aviator . I think that the idea that we 02:10.684 --> 02:12.780 still live in a world where we we do 02:12.780 --> 02:15.470 specify that that's a female pilot and 02:15.470 --> 02:17.414 nobody would say that that says oh 02:17.414 --> 02:19.470 that's a mail pilot , everybody will 02:19.470 --> 02:21.359 specifically put that emphasis on 02:21.359 --> 02:23.359 female . I think that's part of the 02:23.359 --> 02:25.526 perception , you know we're in a space 02:25.526 --> 02:27.650 where we had to fight to be in this 02:27.650 --> 02:30.720 space . Women couldn't Being in the US 02:30.720 --> 02:33.020 Air Force pilot training until 1977 and 02:33.020 --> 02:35.187 then they couldn't fly in combat until 02:35.187 --> 02:37.560 1993 . So that's pretty recent . And um 02:37.940 --> 02:40.162 I guarantee a lot of those women didn't 02:40.162 --> 02:42.162 want to raise their hand and say if 02:42.162 --> 02:44.384 they were uncomfortable or if the space 02:44.384 --> 02:46.496 around them was built for men and not 02:46.496 --> 02:48.607 built for them and I know a lot of us 02:48.607 --> 02:48.030 kind of still feel that way , at least 02:48.030 --> 02:50.560 I do you know if I'm the only female in 02:50.560 --> 02:53.230 the room and the room is not made for a 02:53.230 --> 02:55.286 female to be in there , I'm a little 02:55.286 --> 02:57.370 hesitant to speak up if I need , you 02:57.370 --> 02:59.370 know , female flight equipment that 02:59.370 --> 03:01.259 fits me or allows me to do my job 03:01.259 --> 03:03.259 properly . Um That's something I've 03:03.259 --> 03:05.481 learned in my short four years of being 03:05.481 --> 03:07.620 an aviator in the Air Force's it's ok 03:07.620 --> 03:10.090 to speak up , it's okay to say I'm 03:10.090 --> 03:12.201 different . You know I can do the job 03:12.201 --> 03:14.312 just as well , if not better than the 03:14.312 --> 03:16.423 men next to me , but I need the right 03:16.423 --> 03:18.646 equipment and I need I need the support 03:18.646 --> 03:20.646 in terms of getting into aviation , 03:20.646 --> 03:23.550 Making good choices is going to be the 03:23.550 --> 03:25.717 way that you get there and by that , I 03:25.717 --> 03:28.600 mean being very deliberate in each 03:28.600 --> 03:31.290 thing that you do along the way , my 03:31.290 --> 03:34.490 advice would be to go for it . Don't 03:34.490 --> 03:36.810 let anybody tell you that it's not for 03:36.810 --> 03:39.160 you . There are so many jobs out there 03:39.170 --> 03:42.750 and just try and figure out who you can 03:42.750 --> 03:45.200 talk to and learn more about all the 03:45.200 --> 03:49.180 different opportunities . I would 03:49.180 --> 03:52.070 challenge anyone who has a dream to 03:52.070 --> 03:54.014 just picture themselves doing that 03:54.014 --> 03:55.903 thing . You know , if it's just a 03:55.903 --> 03:57.959 picture themselves in the uniform or 03:57.959 --> 04:00.181 flying the plane or doing whatever role 04:00.181 --> 04:02.403 they want to do . Um If you can picture 04:02.403 --> 04:04.626 yourself doing it , I think it makes it 04:04.626 --> 04:06.848 easier to , to go past those barriers , 04:06.848 --> 04:09.014 especially in jobs like aviation where 04:09.014 --> 04:11.181 there are a lot of barriers , it takes 04:11.181 --> 04:13.403 usually a lot of money or um you know , 04:13.403 --> 04:15.626 certain demographic or having some sort 04:15.626 --> 04:17.848 of privilege . So uh we understand that 04:17.848 --> 04:19.792 those barriers exist and there are 04:19.792 --> 04:21.903 people who dedicate a lot of time and 04:21.903 --> 04:24.070 effort and most of their lives to kind 04:24.070 --> 04:26.070 of breaking down those barriers and 04:26.070 --> 04:28.181 creating that bridge to kind of close 04:28.181 --> 04:30.403 the gap . So if anyone thinks there's a 04:30.403 --> 04:32.626 barrier that's too hard to get past , I 04:32.626 --> 04:31.850 guarantee there are people out there 04:31.850 --> 04:34.072 that are trying to make that easier for 04:34.072 --> 04:36.239 them so they can be a part of the team 04:36.239 --> 04:38.294 as well . I'm hoping that one day we 04:38.294 --> 04:40.350 get to a point where we don't need a 04:40.350 --> 04:42.461 women in aviation week , we just have 04:42.461 --> 04:44.572 aviation . Um I don't think that will 04:44.572 --> 04:46.739 happen in the near future or while I'm 04:46.739 --> 04:48.794 in the Air force , but maybe one day 04:48.794 --> 04:50.906 we'll just get to the point where you 04:50.906 --> 04:53.420 don't have to ask , um are you a female 04:53.420 --> 04:55.960 pilot or it's just , oh I'm a pilot . 04:55.970 --> 04:58.070 So I think it's great . I think it's 04:58.070 --> 05:00.070 great that we're focusing on it . I 05:00.070 --> 05:01.850 really enjoy um 05:03.940 --> 05:06.051 I enjoy being able to speak to people 05:06.051 --> 05:09.170 about being a female pilot and I'm 05:09.170 --> 05:11.281 grateful to all of the women who came 05:11.281 --> 05:13.392 before me . I'm grateful to the women 05:13.392 --> 05:15.503 who flew in World War Two and weren't 05:15.503 --> 05:17.614 acknowledged at the time but have set 05:17.614 --> 05:19.614 that path forward . I'm grateful to 05:19.614 --> 05:22.060 people like General Leavitt , who has 05:22.140 --> 05:24.310 really changed the way that women have 05:24.310 --> 05:26.477 been able to operate in combat . She's 05:26.477 --> 05:28.588 the first female fighter pilot to fly 05:28.588 --> 05:31.380 in combat and without her , who knows 05:31.380 --> 05:34.160 if I'd be sitting here , I'm extremely 05:34.160 --> 05:38.140 grateful to the two other 05:38.140 --> 05:40.140 women that are in the fighter group 05:40.140 --> 05:42.840 with me here and um I'm just happy to 05:42.840 --> 05:46.550 be a woman in aviation . Mhm . 05:49.840 --> 05:51.360 Fly like a girl .