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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
Dec 3, 2008 - 11:51:18 PM |
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Pennsylvania National Guard Has First Female Chinook Pilot-in-Command
By PFC Matthew E. Jones, 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Jun 8, 2007 - 4:30:38 PM
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| CW2 Angie Harris, 27, is the first female Pilot-in-Command for the Chinook helicopter in the PA National Guard. She has been flying Chinooks for less than three years. (Photo by PFC Matthew E. Jones, 109th MPAD, PAARNG) |
Blackanthem Military News, FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pennsylvania - In 1911, Harriet Quimby became the first licensed female pilot. In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. More subtle milestones in female aviation are still happening to this day.
On May 17, almost exactly 75 years after Earhart’s historic trans-Atlantic flight, Chief Warrant Officer Angie Harris became the first female pilot-in-command (PC) of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Harris has faced quite a few challenges on her journey to becoming a PC, but she made it clear that being a female was definitely not one of them.
At the age of 21, after four years in the aviation field, Harris was sent to Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) with the intention of becoming a pilot. A month later she was sent home when it was discovered that she had astigmatism, a medical condition based on having an irregularly-shaped cornea.
“I had 20/20 vision and they sent me home anyway,” said Harris. “I was pretty bitter,” she said with a cynical smile.
After working 12-hour nights at what she described as a thankless job at an electronics manufacturing plant for a few months, Harris decided to make a career out of the military instead. She started working at the Eastern Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (EAATS) fulltime and became a noncommissioned officer. But as luck would have it, Harris’ dreams of becoming a pilot were not over yet.
“I was completely content retiring as a sergeant major one day,” said Harris. “Then, a year later, I came across an email saying that the Army was seeking laser eye treatment test candidates. In three days I was in Philadelphia having the surgery done.”
It was only a matter of time before a Soldier with the potential that Harris possesses was given a second chance, and six months later she was given exactly that. Col. Christopher Latchford, the Pennsylvania state army aviation officer, decided to send Harris to flight school again. Harris was ecstatic.
“Kudos to Colonel Latchford for having the faith to send me back the second time,” said Harris. “Most others would have just said ‘we already lost one flight school seat for you, we’re not giving you another one.’”
Harris’ dream of being a pilot had finally come true.
“It’s a great feeling when you jump in the seat,” she said. “You strap on the seatbelt, and it feels like you’re at the aircraft’s mercy, but you know you’re in charge of it. You make it do what you want it to.”
Following WOCS and Initial Entry Rotary-Wing, Harris immediately went to the CH-47 Aircraft Qualification Course to become a Chinook pilot like one of her icons, Chief Warrant Officer Jeffrey Reep, a standardization instructor pilot at the Army Aviation Support Facility #1.
“CW4 Reep is kind of my icon when it comes to the Chinook,” said Harris. “It’s like he just straps on the helicopter and it becomes part of him.”
As it turned out, it was her icon who signed her off as a PC after a flying a historic cross-country mission.
On the morning of May 17, Harris and her crew prepared a six-decade-old T-28 Trojan for a long ride. Harris piloted the Chinook that carried the sling-loaded plane halfway across the country to Minneapolis-St. Paul where it was put into the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum.
“It was a little overwhelming at first,” said Harris. “I’m 27 and I’m in charge of this million-dollar aircraft. It’s on me to make sure our passengers and cargo get where they’re going safely. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Actually, at her relatively young age, with less than three years experience flying the Chinook, it is a very big deal. But Harris humbly attributed her accomplishments partly to luck.
“I’ve been really lucky,” she said. “I’ve gotten some really great missions. When Katrina hit, I was down there for almost two months. I’ve done missions to Connecticut, Minnesota… there’s no better time to learn than during these missions.”
Now that Harris has reached her short-term goal of becoming a PC, she is focused on her long-term goals of becoming an instructor pilot or a maintenance test pilot. She would also like to retire as a CW5, the fifth level of warrant officer. She is currently a CW2. At the age of 27, with 10 years in the service, she has plenty of time, she said.
Harris made it very clear that gender will in no way inhibit her from accomplishing her goals.
“There’s absolutely no gender bias (in Army aviation), but it’s almost like some females are intimidated, because they see aviation as a male-dominated field,” she said. “The only barriers I see for females are the ones created by them.”
Harris spent some time assisting recruiters, and came across many females who were reluctant to join based on their gender. She clearly does not have sympathy for females who use their gender as an excuse for not meeting challenges.
“If you play the gender card, then that’s one strike against you,” she said. “New female Soldiers have to prove themselves to their superiors and earn respect, but every Soldier has to do that.”
It takes a certain kind of person to become a pilot, said Harris, and there are no exceptions for females.
“Some of the females I run into are both nervous and excited, but they just run with it anyway,” she said. “Those are the ‘type-a’ personalities that the Army Aviation field is looking for. It’s definitely not for the timid.”
If that is the case, then the future of Harris’ Army aviation career is looking very promising.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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| CW2 Angie Harris goes through her pre-flight checklist before an impromtu mission June 1. Harris and her crew had to fly hundreds of miles to deliver parts to a grounded helicopter. (Photo by PFC Matthew E. Jones, 109th MPAD, PAARNG) |
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Comments
Phil Pertuit
10 Sep 2008, 13:32
Did Pennsylvania have any Chinooks? Pilots and crew in Plaquemines Parish,
Louisiana filling levee breach after Hurricane Gustav? If so, what
sign....254?
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