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“Every day I kind of pinch myself when I realize this is my job. Flying fighters is all I ever wanted to do,” Mau said, glumly at first but then flashing a smile.
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Mau looks back on these achievements and many others she accomplished during her 20 years of service as she looks towards the next transition in her life: military retirement. She reached the status of command pilot and accumulated more than 2,500 flying hours across more than five aircraft platforms, 10 assignments and five deployments. Mau’s most inspired discussions, whether it be with boys and girls starting their lives or the men and women she leads, are of the career she has loved in the Air Force. “If we want to come up with the best solutions to problems and continue to be an innovative force, we need to have people who think differently and look at problems differently.” In order to get the best pilots we need to recruit the best people,” Mau continued. “I want the Air Force to have the best pilots, bottom line. Her goals, like those of many of the Air Force’s great leaders, are to encourage diversity and inclusiveness. I do what I can to influence them in a positive way and encourage them to pursue these careers.”Īlthough she recognizes there is a shortage of women in the industry, she is clear that it is not her intention to simply raise the number of women aviators in the Air Force. “I want to inspire young people, men and women alike, to love aviation. “It’s a role that I need to honor,” Mau said. Furthermore, only around two percent of fighter pilots in the Air Force are women, a career field that is already facing severe manning shortages. While the Air Force is comprised of 19 percent women, under six percent of pilots are female. Mau recognizes the significant role she plays as the only female F-35 pilot and strives to embolden and motivate young men and women into the field of aviation. What didn’t kill me made me stronger and it’s what made me who I am today,” Mau said. “I’ve faced challenges my entire career, but nothing that was insurmountable. After 16 years in the Strike Eagle, Mau transitioned to the F-35A in 2015 the first and only woman to do so. She also realized quickly how few women there were in aviation positions.Īs she climbed through the ranks, she progressed through the chain of command and became a squadron commander at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., her final Strike Eagle assignment. She was competitive and eventually learned to be “thick-skinned”, both qualities she needed during her journey. From there she went on to Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals and then the F-15E Basic Course. She excelled through Undergraduate Pilot Training where she achieved her dream of being a fighter pilot. Mau was accepted to attend Air Force Academy in pursuit of her fighter pilot dreams in 1993. “That’s just the person I was: confident, determined and super stubborn.” “Some people looked at me like I was crazy, but my friends looked at me like, ‘yup, she is going to fly fighters,’” Mau recalled. “I can remember my mom saying women couldn’t do that yet it stuck with me.”Īlthough flying fighter aircraft wasn’t opened to women until 1993, Mau set her sights on being a fighter pilot while she was still in high school. “I can very clearly remember these fighters beating up the pattern and saying ‘I want to do that same thing one day,’” Mau reflected, with her eyes lighting up. Her family had just moved to California, near El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
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Christine Mau, 33 rd Operations Group deputy commander and only female F-35 pilot, that moment came when she was five years old. At what point in time did you realize your calling in life? Can you pinpoint a specific moment when you decided the goal you would dedicate yourself to?įor Lt.