The Thunderbirds are making history, and… I am thrilled, and I am sad. In my early teens, I went through a phase where, had you asked, this would have been me. I would have been the first female fighter pilot, the first to fly in one of these elite teams. I admit, althought I love the F-16, I would have gunned to fly an FA-18 Hornet, which is what the Blue Angels fly. I am, after all, a Navy girl by birth and legacy, and I wouldn’t have left that behind for the Air Force (a slightly older cousin did that, and family gatherings turned into collecting jokes about the Air Force… a slightly more difficult task than you’d imagine, although I’d love to say it was easy; the Air Force definitely is at the top of the military pecking order).
I’ve known for a long time that this was not a record I would set. Even though, it’s another mark on the list of things I will never accomplish that I once desired, and thus makes me introspective.