|
Growing up near Tyndall Air Force Base as an Air Force “brat”
wanting to follow in her Dad and Grandad's footsteps to carry on
family legacy she made the decision to become an Air Force Fighter
Pilot. Maj. Ashley Rolfe is making history at the 104th Fighter Wing
as the first female fighter pilot in the Wing's seventy year
history.
|
July 26, 2016 - Maj. Ashley Rolfe is the first female fighter
pilot for the Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing. Rolfe is an
Air Force Academy graduate and combat veteran who has served in the
Air Force for eleven years. Rolfe became an Air Force pilot after
growing up as an Air Force “Brat” dependent, following her dad and
grandad's footsteps carrying on the family legacy. Rolfe's swearing
in ceremony took place at Barnes Air National Guard Base. (U.S. Air
National Guard Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Julie Avey)
|
“The noise of the sonic booms would shake the entire
room,” said Rolfe. “I thought it was the coolest thing in
the entire world. So I made my dad take me to all the air
shows and I would drag him to pilot to pilot and ask them
how did you become a pilot. This was about when I was ten
and most of them said the most direct path is the Air Force
Academy. So I was a ten year old girl in fifth grade saying
I'm going to be a fighter pilot. I was usually shorter than
everyone else and people were usually saying ok little
girl.”
Today Rolfe has been in the Air Force for
eleven years. She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force
Academy and has been stationed as a U.S. Fighter Pilot at
Kadena, Nellis, and Tyndall Air Force Bases. She has
deployed twice, most recently Afghanistan for 6 months.
During her
swearing in ceremony to the Air National Guard's 104th
Fighter Wing she thanked the wing for a warm welcome. “I'm
really excited to get to know everyone here. Hopefully you
don't necessarily just see me as a chick but you see me as
one of the pilots or one of the bros.”
“I think it
is really awesome to hire our first female to the 104th
Fighter Wing,” said Lt. Col. William Bladen, 104th
Operations Group Commander. “There is a diversity aspect of
this but you have heard me talk about this before. More than
the diversity of our color of our skin, gender, and all of
that, the diversity of thought, opinion, and different
perspectives we all bring to the fight is important. Rolfe
you certainly bring that with all your experience. I have
known her since somewhere around 2012.”
At her
previous duty assignment on Tyndall AFB before coming to the
104th FW she flew T38s as an aggressor for the Raptor
program.
When asked about the journey to becoming a
fighter pilot Rolfe shared “I knew going in it was going to
be a challenge. For anyone going into flying fighters it's a
challenge. A lot of hard work, a lot of studying, and a lot
of practice. Getting into the fighter pilot culture. It just
kind of happens and you work at it with the social
engagements and such. As long as you are involved in
Squadron events and everything not being a total hermit you
should be able to work in.”
Rolfe graduated pilot
training in 2007 fulfilling her life-long dream to become an
F-15 fighter pilot.
“I was the only girl in my first
half of pilot training,” said Rolfe. “But then I ended up
transitioning after the first section of training. Once I
went to the T-38s in Columbus Mississippi there was another
girl in my class. She ended up being one of my bridesmaids
and were still very close. We were competitive but still
became lifelong friends and she ended up going to Strike
Eagles. We were a little nervous when we first met because
we are both type A personalities and who knew how that
meshing was going to work but it worked out great.”
Women first entered pilot training in 1976 and fighter pilot
training in 1993. The Air National Guard has 195 female
pilots; of those, 10 are fighter pilots.
Kadena was
Rolfe's first duty assignment where she was part of the 67th
Fighting Cocks as the only female F-15 fighter pilot in her
squadron.
“At first the guys were hesitant because they
hadn't had a female in the squadron for a few years but it
didn't take long until I became just one of the bros,” said
Rolfe. “They were very accepting and gave me just as much
crap as I could give them. Brotherly love pretty much and
treated me as a little sister picking on me.”
Rolfe
has a year and a half old daughter.
“She's already a
fiercely independent little girl,” said Rolfe.
“I
just want to impart you don't have to be limited by what
other people say,” Rolfe shared. “There was a high school
football and baseball coach at my school when I was a
senior. I had been telling people I want to go to the Air
Force Academy. I want to be a Fighter Pilot and blah blah.
He straight up told me you won't ever be a fighter pilot
because you are a girl.”
Rolfe stressed “I just want
her to know even though someone might say you can't do that.
Do the research and realize no kidding if you put your mind
to it you can most likely do this.”
“Like my mom,
she said I couldn't' fly off the dining room table when I
was two and half. I broke my arm doing it and that's the
kind of thing my daughter got from me. I'm having to tell
her don't stand on that rocking chair.”
By U.S. Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Julie Avey
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
Comment on this article |
