![]() If you could fly anything right now, what would it be? I knew I wanted to serve something greater than myself, I wanted a challenge, and I wanted to have fun doing it. From that moment on, I was determined to become a fighter pilot. It was then that I remembered I wanted to be a fighter pilot. It was the only thing that made sense, and the only thing I knew I wanted to do. Looking back, I find it interesting that I didn’t really know much about being a fighter pilot other than what I saw from watching the movie Top Gun. That is, until my junior year of high school when I needed to decide on what I would do for the rest of my life. My interest in flying sat somewhere in the back of my mind while I played multiple sports growing up. According to her, she said girls couldn’t do that yet, but I only remember her telling me that girls can’t do that at all. My earliest memory of wanting to fly was when I was about five years old I remember watching fighter aircraft in the traffic pattern at the El Toro MCAS (Marine Corp Air Station) and telling my mom that I wanted to do that when I grew up. When did you first know you wanted to be a pilot? In the meantime, Mau agreed to answer a few questions for us. You can watch the lecture on Air and Space Live or request tickets to attend in person. Mau will discuss her journey at the Museum’s GE Aviation Lecture, Views from the Cockpit of the F-35. She doesn’t share that fact boastfully, but rather hopes it inspires young men and women to become fighter pilots. Today, Mau is the first, and remains the only, woman to fly the F-35, one of the Air Force’s newest jets. It’s there she flew combat missions for Operations Southern Watch, Northern Watch, and Enduring Freedom. Mau was also only the third woman assigned to the 492nd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom flying the F-15E Strike Eagle. “So I learned early on that growing thick skin, ignoring those who don’t support you, and persevering was the key to success.” “If I had a good or bad flight, it seemed everyone knew about it,” she said. ![]() But this didn’t mean the young pilot’s career would be free from challenges. Mau recalls being among only a handful of women in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, which, she remembers made it hard not to stand out. “The Combat Exclusion Law blew my mind as over 50 years prior, the WASP flew every aircraft the Army Air Corps had during WWII,” she said.īy the time she graduated and entered into the United States Air Force, the Combat Exclusion Law had been lifted for aviation positions. Mau began her career at the United States Air Force Academy at a time when women were forbidden to serve in combat positions-a fact that baffled her. And, as a fighter pilot, she has done so with only a small community of female military pilots. Christine Mau has helped prove that women can perform, outstandingly, in some of the toughest positions in the United States Air Force. ![]()
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