Female Pilots to be in Combat Trial Positions at the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment

Women have been flying Apache attack helicopters in the U.S. Army for about 15 years. Since the 1990's women have been flying helicopters and serving in Fort Bragg's Combat Aviation Brigades but not for the Special Operations Community.

The 82nd CAB currently has more than 25 female pilots assigned, which
account for a majority of the female pilots stationed at Ft. Bragg. That means women, who officially don’t have combat roles, have been battle-tested in numerous war time deployments. The unit also has a large number of aviation support personnel, many of whom are female.

Taking their role a step further, the Army’s most elite aviation unit, known as the Night Stalkers, has proposed a test program to let women serve as pilots and crew chiefs, pending congressional approval.

According to a LeafChronicle.com report the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., will give women a trial as pilots and crew chiefs as part of a military-wide review on gender policies last year that preceded the Pentagon’s announcement on Jan. 24 to lift a broad ban on women fighting in smaller ground combat units, which include many artillery, armor and infantry jobs.

“This test program is a natural transition as these occupational specialties are already open to women in conventional Army Combat Aviation Brigades,” Lt. Col. Dave Connolly, a spokesman for U.S. Army Special Operations Command said in the news report.

In the conventional Army, pilots are able to transition between aircraft by
attending additional training at Fort Rucker, Ala. The length of training
varies depending on which aircraft the pilot is coming from/going to.
Training on different aircraft via this method is not uncommon, but it is not known how these females selected will transition into this new program.

Read more about Chief Warrant Officer 2 Laura Tanski, an AH-64 Apache helicopter pilot here.