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Old 08-08-2019, 11:50 AM
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Thumbs up First female Marine F-35B pilot graduates soon, while first female Marine is selected

First female Marine F-35B pilot graduates soon, while first female Marine is selected to fly F-35C
By: Shawn Snow - Marine Times - 8-7-19
RE: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/new...-to-fly-f-35c/

Photo link of aircraft: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/ts...UMWS6NEBVY.jpg
A KC-130J Hercules Aerial Refueling Tanker and an F-35B Lightning II conduct an aerial refueling on Sept. 18, 2018, during Exercise Valiant Shield 18 while flying to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (Lance Cpl. Seth Rosenberg/Marine Corps)

The first female Marine F-35B pilot is set to graduate from training soon, according to Marine officials.

The female Marine pilot has been undergoing F-35B training at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 aboard the Marine air station at Beaufort, South Carolina, a Marine official told Marine Corps Times Wednesday.

While her graduation is fast approaching, another female Marine, 1st Lt. Catherine Stark, was recently the first female Marine selected to train and fly the F-35C, according to Marine spokesman Capt. Christopher Harrison.

Stark recently had her aviation wings pinned on during a ceremony aboard Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas, following completion of flight school on Aug. 2.

Stark will soon begin nine to 12 months of F-35C training at the Navy’s F-35C Fleet Replacement Squadron in Lemoore, California.

GoErie.com first reported that Stark was the first female Marine selected to train on the F-35C.

Stark has spent the past 18 months training on the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II and the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering was commissioned as a Marine officer in 2016, GoErie.com reported.

Photo of new Pilot: https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/Ks...5QU6YN2BKY.jpg
Marine 1st Lt. Catherine Stark is pictured here at her winging ceremony aboard Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas. Stark will continue to her assigned fleet replacement squadron to fly the F-35C II Joint Strike Fighter jet aircraft. Stark is the first female Marine to be assigned to the Navy's F-35C FRS. (Anne Owens/Navy)

“Up until now they were only taking F-18 pilots that were already out in the fleet, someone with a lot of experience, and they were sending them back to school for six months and then transitioning them to the F-35,” Stark told GoErie.com in a phone interview. “But recently, they’ve been picking people right out of flight school (for the F-35). That’s been the special thing. Up until now, people fresh out of flight school with no fleet experience — like myself; I haven’t been to a squadron yet because I just finished flight school — we didn’t have the opportunity to select the F-35.”

“And I guess you could tack on that, because I’m a woman, by virtue I guess I’m the first woman picked to fly the F-35C for the Marine Corps,” she told GoErie.com. “I’ve been blessed to get picked up for the F-35 Charlie. I don’t want to downplay it, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

While the first female Marines are entering the F-35 pilot community, other female pilots have come before them.

In 2015, then-Air Force Lt. Col. Christine Mau became the first female F-35 pilot in the program, according to Air Force Times. And in December 2018, Air Force Maj. Rachael Winiecki became the first female test pilot to fly an F-35, according to Air Force Times.

The Marines have 86 F-35 pilots across the Corps, but are authorized to have 263, according to data obtained by Marine Corps Times through a government records request. The data is current as of February.

The F-35C is the aircraft carrier variant of the high tech stealth fighter. The Corps is procuring both the F-35B and F-35C variants of the stealth aircraft.

The F-35B allows for short take-off and vertical landing and can be deployed from the Navy’s amphibious assault ships. The Corps plans to procure 353 F-35Bs and 67 F35Cs, according to the Marine Corps’ 2019 aviation plan.

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Personal note: Way to go Lt. give'em hell for me. Boats
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Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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