Israeli Air Force appoints first female pilot to command a flight squadron
The pilot, Major G, will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Nachshon Squadron, which operates surveillance aircraft.
(August 8, 2018 / JNS) The Israeli Air Force has appointed its first female pilot to command a flight squadron.
The pilot, Major G (full name withheld for security reasons), will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Nachshon Squadron, which operates surveillance aircraft.
The appointment comes eight months after the IAF named the first woman to head an aviation squadron, which is responsible for ground-based operations.
Just two months before that, the air force appointed its first female deputy commander of a fighter-jet squadron to serve in the Spearhead Squadron.
Women flew fighter planes in the 1948 War of Independence and the 1956 Sinai War, but were ultimately phased out of combat positions until recent changes in the Israel Defense Forces policy have opened up combat roles for women again.