Pioneering Female F-35 Pilot Reflects on Legacy of Women in Military Aviation

ARLINGTON, VA, UNITED STATES

08.03.2022

Story by F-35 Joint Program Office Strategic Communication Cell 

F-35 Joint Program Office

ARLINGTON, Va. - Military aviation proudly recounts its past, sustains its present and looks towards its future. Part of its history tells the story of the female pilots who stepped up to ensure aircraft were available and ready during World War II. The WASPs, or the Women Airforce Service Pilots, provided an invaluable service to our country in wartime. Their legacy influenced future women in military aviation who became leaders, innovators, and decision-makers. Now, their legacy lives on as the most lethal and connected fifth-generation aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II, operates daily worldwide.

In 2015, then U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Christine Mau became the first female F-35 pilot when she completed a flight in the Lightning II. Mau retired in 2017, but her story remains a key highlight of the F-35 story.

Mau's interest in military aviation began at an early age. Her father was in the U.S. Air Force, and she would watch aircraft launch into the sky from her home near Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. When she was five years old, Mau knew she wanted to fly fighter jets – a challenging goal when women were not permitted to be fighter pilots or serve in combat roles.

Undaunted, Mau pursued her aviation goals and earned admission to the United States Air Force Academy in 1993. Later that year, the U.S. Department of Defense changed its policy to allow women to serve in combat roles. As a result, more opportunities were open to Mau and female pilots who wanted to pursue their goal of flying fighter jets.

Mau worked hard and pursued an assignment at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, where she began her flight training and earned a spot as an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot. The F-15E is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. An array of avionics and electronics systems gives the F-15E the capability to fight at low altitude, day or night, and in all weather.

As an F-15 pilot, Mau was a part of the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron's first all-female combat sortie in the F-15E that provided air support to coalition and Afghan forces in Kunar Valley, Afghanistan. Women carried out the entire mission, from the pilots and weapons system officers of the two F-15s to the mission planners and maintainers.

Mau remembers thinking, "This must have been what it was like for the WASPs," when seeing the all-woman F-15 crew. During World War II, the aforementioned WASPs tested, ferried, and trained pilots. Established in August 1943, 72 years before Mau's first flight, these women transported aircraft from the United States for overseas deployment and to training bases.

Mau flew the F-15 for most of her career, clocking over 500 combat hours in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Southern Watch, Northern Watch, and Enduring Freedom.

The time invested and experience gained in the F-15 would lay the foundation for Mau's eventual move to the F-35 Lightning II.

Mau jumped at the chance to train to fly an F-35 in 2015 when a commander from the 33rd Fighter Wing out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, called.

"[The commander said] 'Do you want to come to Eglin and fly F-35s?'" Mau recalled. The job was as the 33rd Fighter Wing Operations Group deputy commander, a flying position.

"'Oh, hell yes!'" was Mau's response.

Luck, timing, and a great deal of demonstrated skill on her part guided her on the journey to the F-35.

Of 88 F-35 pilots trained at Eglin, Mau was the only woman. Leading up to her first flight, she spent two months going through intensive training and multiple flights in the F-35 simulator, Mau said.

With 16 years of experience in a two-seat F-15, adjusting to the single-seat F-35 was a new experience for Mau.

"I had never really flown by myself before," Mau explained, adding the caveat that she had done one solo flight in the F-15E. But this was different.

While taxiing out for that first flight in the F-35, that solitude struck her.

"As soon as you feel that power, that kick, as you're racing down the runway, it sinks in," Mau said.

Alone in the cockpit, with nothing but the sound of her breath and the call from air traffic control clearing her for takeoff, Mau (call sign "Grinder") rocketed down the Eglin runway. As the wheels of her aircraft lifted from the ground on May 5, 2015, Mau became the first female fighter pilot to fly an F-35.

Without a weapons system officer behind her, Mau took comfort when flying initially in listening to the sound of her own breathing.

"For a while, that was my happy place," Mau said. “I would just listen to myself breathe.”

Aside from her first flight, according to Mau, her favorite moment in the jet was participating in a large force exercise with other aircraft because she was able to see the true force and capabilities of the F-35.

“Nobody saw me, and we slayed,” Mau said.

Mau retired from her active-duty role after 20 years of service in the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and began searching for her next career leap. Luck and timing once again converged when a rare position opened as an instructor training the next generations of F-35 pilots.

"I love instructing students," Mau enthused, "it's a passion of mine."

When it comes to training each new class of F-35 pilots, Mau said, she focuses on instructing the best and the brightest pilots regardless of gender.

"Flying is a great equalizer, she said. “The plane doesn't know or care about your gender as a pilot, nor do the ground troops who need your support. You have to perform."
Mau's experiences gained throughout her life and career have allowed her to look back on some of the most important aspects of what got her to where she is today. For others looking to pursue careers in aviation, Mau advises, work hard, keep your options open and never limit yourself.

"You can do anything," Mau said. "It just takes a lot of effort."

Through hard work and dedication, Mau was able to achieve the goals she had set for herself at five years old. Her biggest piece of advice for others chasing their own goals reflects her determination.

"Always give it your best," Mau said. "And your best may fail at times but grow some thick skin. Because through your failures, you learn the most."

• Date Taken: 08.03.2022
• Date Posted: 08.05.2022 10:03
• Story ID: 426441
• Location: ARLINGTON, VA, US