KINGSVILLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The U.S. Navy has welcomed its first Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot and she is assigned to a squadron in Texas.
“MAKING HISTORY!” the U.S. Navy tweeted Thursday in response to a post that Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle had completed naval flight school and would later this month receive the flight officer insignia known as the “Wings of Gold.”
MAKING HISTORY! https://t.co/jKJONHvL7S
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) July 9, 2020
The Naval Air Training Command tweeted that Swegle is the Navy’s “first known Black female TACAIR pilot.”
Paula Dunn, the Navy’s vice chief of information, tweeted: “Very proud of LTJG Swegle. Go forth and kick butt.”
According to Stars and Stripes, Swegle is from Burke, Virginia, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2017.
Officials said she is assigned to the Redhawks of Training Squadron 21 in Kingsville, Texas.
Swegle’s milestone comes more than 45 years after Rosemary Mariner in 1974 became the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet, according to news outlets.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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