Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators

On Feb. 2, 2019, the skies over Maynardville, Tennessee, filled with the roar of four F/A-18F Super Hornets streaking overhead in close formation. In each aircraft were two young female flyers, executing the first all-woman Missing Man Flyover in Navy history. As the four planes streaking overhead in close formation. In each aircraft two young female fliers, executing the first all-female Missing Man Flyover in Navy history in memory of Captain Rosemary Mariner, whose drive to serve opened doors for female aviators wanting to serve their country. In her 24-year military career, begun as one of a handful of women chosen for Navy flight training as an experiment in 1973, Mariner racked up an impressive roster of achievements, and firsts. Leading by example, and by confrontation when necessary, she blazed a trail for women toward the highest levels of command, taking on deep skepticism within the fleet and empowering On Feb. 2, 2019, the skies over Maynardville, Tennessee, were filled with the roar of four F/A-18F Super Hornets everyone in her squadron to be their best. She and five fellow graduates from the inaugural class of Female Naval Aviators rose to challenge and eventually help win the repeal of rules preventing women from serving equally with their male counterparts.This is the story of their struggles and triumphs as they earned their Wings of Gold, learned to fly increasingly sophisticated jet fighters and helicopters, mastered aircraft carrier landings, served at sea and reached heights of command that would have been unthinkable less than a generation before. And it is the story of the legacy they left behind, one for which the women performing the Navy’s first Missing Woman Flyover in Mariner’s memory owe a debt of gratitude.