Serving Her Country (AFW Sep/Oct 2022)
by Liz Booker
This article was published in the September/October 2022 issue of Aviation for Women Magazine.
Aviation history is indelibly linked to military history. Despite women being excluded or marginalized in military aviation for most of that history, a large portion of the books featuring women in aviation are by or about women who served. We celebrated one of those women at WAI22, when Capt. Rosemary Mariner was inducted into the Women in Aviation Hall of Fame. The book, Wings of Gold, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bev Weintraub, tells Mariner’s pioneering story, alongside five of her contemporaries who paved the way for women in Naval Aviation. The Aviatrix Book Club will discuss Wings of Gold in October 2022.
The list of books about women military aviators is long, and the variety of genres, experiences, and eras is surprisingly vast. Some, like Wings of Gold, are collections of the stories of several women in service. Many are action-packed memoirs that focus exclusively on the subject’s military experiences, while others highlight how that service prepared them for challenges and achievements beyond the military. And there are other writers who weave their military experiences into fiction. This is a small sampling, but you can explore the Aviatrix Book Review [now Literary Aviatrix] website to discover many more, including dozens featuring the women who flew for their countries during World War II.
Changing the Rules of Engagement, by Coast Guard Capt. Martha LaGuardia-Kotite, and The Grit Factor, by Army H-64 Apache helicopter pilot, Shannon Huffman Polson, present the diverse experiences of women across services and specialties.
The authors of Jet Girl, by Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons Systems Officer, Caroline Johnson, and Danger Close, by Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior pilot, Amber Smith, defy gender stereotypes with their journeys from Colorado debutante (Johnson) and University of Washington competitive cheerleader (Smith) to combat flying.
Mary Jennings Hagar shares her experience as an Air Force F-16 and B-2 maintenance officer and Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk Combat Search and Rescue pilot in Shoot Like a Girl. When injuries from a Taliban attack disqualified her from flying in 2009, and the Combat Exclusion Policy prohibited her from applying for ground combat positions, she sued the government for its repeal. The young readers’ version (for ages 12-16) is Fly Like a Girl.
In military search and rescue, aircrew play a critical role in life-saving missions. Coast Guard Flight Mechanic Ashlee Leppert fights her own failing body as she faces the devastation of Hurricane Harvey from the open door of an H-65 Dolphin helicopter in The Hurricane Within. Army pilot Erik Sabiston recounts an intense three-day period of combat rescue operations in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, including the heroic actions of his Flight Medic, Sgt. Julia Bringloe, who later went on to become a pilot, in Dustoff 7-3.
As you might expect, a common theme in many of these books is the challenge of being a woman in a male-dominated culture. As the first woman to qualify as a fixed wing pilot in Afghanistan’s Air Force, Nioofar Rahmani’s experiences were extraordinary. Rahmani ultimately sought asylum in the U.S. when her entire family’s lives were threatened, all because she wanted to serve her country as a military pilot. You can read her story in Open Skies, co-authored by Adam Sikes.
There are so many more inspiring stories I wish I could highlight here. If you would like to receive news and highlights about books featuring women in aviation, including Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates and times, or if you’re considering sharing your own experiences through writing, please connect with me on social media or visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to sign up for the Literary Aviatrix newsletter.
