They are kept out of the cockpit for nine months, plus recovery time. For safety reasons, women pilots can no longer fly once they become pregnant. “On that day my life took on an amazing new meaning.” Making the decision to have a baby could have been career-ending for Major Kimbrell. “The real turning point in my life was when I gave birth to my son in August of 2006,” she said. The most recent and as yet unresolved challenge is how having a baby and raising a family fits in with her career progression. The sorties were actually anticlimactic until I recognized that people were actually shooting at us.” “I flew my first combat sortie in 2001 in Operation Northern Watch. It was like a whole new world of options opened up to me,” she said. “The turning point in my career was when I arrived at Misawa. “At the end of the day, if I have put forth the maximum effort, I can live with myself and that is one of the most important parts of this struggle.” Throttling through those challenges became worthwhile when Major Kimbrell received her first operational assignment to Misawa Air Base, Japan. “I have made it to this point in my life by setting goals and being determined to meet them no matter how long it takes,” she said. The unfortunate fact is that being a black woman is a constant struggle.”Dealing with that bias, whether malicious or not, has caused Major Kimbrell to try even harder to succeed in life. ![]() “When I go somewhere new, people tend to look at me differently, mostly because of who I am and it is the subtle ways that people treat me differently that make it challenging. and they spill over into every walk of life and every workspace,” said Major Kimbrell, the only female pilot stationed at Aviano Air Base. “There are still a lot of unresolved racial issues in the U.S. There are continued challenges with flight gear, uniforms, and equipment that are designed and optimized for men.”Īnother challenge Major Kimbrell faced throughout her career and growing up was the struggle of being an African-American woman, who at times was viewed as being different than other people. There was the physical challenge of not having perfect eyesight, which at one point I was told would disqualify me from flying. Honestly it was not something that I had time to concern myself with. “I don’t think that I actually grasped how few of us there were. “I was never apprehensive about pursuing my dream, despite the challenges,” said Major Kimbrell. Pursuing a career in a male-dominated field was just one of several challenges Major Kimbrell had to overcome. Air Force - about 3,700 of those are fighter pilots. There are more than 14,000 pilots in the U.S. It was in those times I learned to be humble and realize there is a point in everyone’s struggle – no matter how strong they are - when they need help, and the key is to seek it out before it is too late.” “There were times when I didn’t think that I was going to make it through. “I was in constant competition with myself, trying to do better, to make the grade,” she said. “For two years, every move you make is graded and scrutinized.” Eager to make it as a fighter pilot in a field with a limited number of pilot slots Major Kimbrell pushed herself to constantly improve. ![]() ![]() “Pilot training was one of the best times in my life and I made some life-long friendships,” Major Kimbrell said. Major Kimbrell knew she “had what it took” and after graduating from the Air Force Academy in 1998, she went on to complete intense pilot training receiving her pilot wings in August, 1999. ![]() Although women have been entering pilot training since 1976, before 1993, government officials did not believe women had “what it took” for combat. Then, in 1993, the Secretary of Defense permitted women to enter fighter pilot training.
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