Last month, former U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot Monessa “Siren” Balzhiser joined the ranks of an elite group of female F-35 Lightning II pilots who paved the way before her when she became the first F-35 Production and Training Pilot. Balzhiser joined the defense contractor in 2018 and was selected to fly the F-16 jet as a production and training pilot.

Balzhiser said that when she was asked if she had any interest in flying the fifth-generation stealth combat aircraft, “Siren” thought it was a joke and didn't initially believe it. When the shock subsided she jumped at the chance to fly the world’s most advanced aircraft.

“I’m absolutely humbled and honored to represent Lockheed Martin and fly the F-16 and the F-35, two of the best fighter jets out there,” Balzhiser said in a press statement. “It was a little bit shocking at first, but once I settled down, I was in awe—I’m still in awe.”

Balzhiser added that she had taken her very first flight in the F-35 jet at Luke Air Force with her mentor and F-35 flight instructor, Lt. Col. Kristin “Mother” Hubbard, flying as her wingman.

“It was amazing and a bit surreal,” Balzhiser added. “If you can imagine every emotion that you can think of happening in one location—nervousness when stepping out to the jet, to the pure excitement of being strapped into one of the most powerful fighter jets in the world, to scared of messing up, to a huge adrenaline rush—it was just all encompassed in my one little glass cockpit.”

As part of the preparation for her first flight Balzhiser spent six weeks prior with the 56th Training Squadron and 61st Fighter Squadron as part of a senior officer course. The training consisted of rigorous amounts of academics for each system on the F-35 jet and twelve simulator scenarios.

Balzhiser and her classmates had to demonstrate their ability to identify and respond to any kind of situation requiring emergency procedures, and also how to handle all the sensor capabilities in the state-of-the-art F-35 jet.

“Honestly, I could not be happier being a fighter pilot and now flying the F-35,” said Balzhiser. “It’s a dream come true for me.”

Females Flying High

As of July of last year, there were eleven active-duty female F-35A pilots, compared to 286 active-duty male pilots. United States Air Force Lt. Col. Christine Mau became the very first woman in the F-35 program in 2015 after previously flying F-15 jets.

There are also two women F-35C pilots in the United States Navy, with one serving as an instructor at Fighter Squadron 125, while the other is an F-35C weapon school instructor, the EurAsian Times reported. The United States Marine Corps currently has three female F-35 aviators, including one full-time pilot along with a student pilot who flies the F-35B jet, while another female flight student is in the training to fly the F-35C jet.

Last year, Capt. Emily “Banzai” Thompson became the first woman to fly the F-35A Lightning II jet in combat in the Middle East.

“This is my first deployment,” Thompson said in a statement at the time. “So for me, it was a pretty big deal, the first combat sortie for me. Of course, being the first female, it’s a pretty big honor. There’s a lot of females who have come before me and there’s a lot of females already flying combat sorties in other platforms. So just to be the person who gets that honor, that first, it just meant a lot.”

Balzhiser said that being a woman shouldn’t make a difference as it certainly doesn’t matter to the aircraft.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Reuters