For The First Time In Their 76-Year History, US Navy Blue Angels Will Have a Female Pilot Join The Demonstration Squadron
(MAGANews.Org) – The US Navy has selected Lt. Amanda Lee as one of the newest pilots to join the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet demonstration squadron.
A native of Minnesota, Lee attended The University of Minnesota in Duluth while working at UPS. She decided to join the US Navy and graduated from Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill., in 2007.
Congratulations to Lt. Amanda Lee, who was selected to join the @BlueAngels as its first woman fighter jet demonstration pilot. Sound barriers aren’t the only thing she is breaking. She’ll start intensive training with the other new members announced. #flynavy #womeninthenavy pic.twitter.com/s4v6FcLNOq
— USNavyCNO (@USNavyCNO) July 18, 2022
Lee earned her commission and became a naval aviator in April 2016. Before that, she enlisted as an aviation electronics technician leading up to her selection into the Seaman-to-Admiral Commissioning Program.
Lee joined the ranks of the first all-female flyover in 2019 as part of a funeral service for retired Navy Capt. Rosemary Mariner.
Capt. Mariner was not only one of the first female US Navy jet pilots, but she was also one of the first females to command an aviation squadron.
Although Lee isn’t the first female selected to fly with the Blue Angels, she’ll be the first to fly a F/A-18E/F for the squadron. It was Marine Maj. Katie Higgins, who flew the squadron’s C-130 Fat Albert transport plane from 2014 to 2016.
Founded in 1946, the US Navy Blue Angels fly exhibitions across the country yearly.
Congratulations, Lt. Lee! And congratulations to the other five officers selected.
Good Morning #BlueAngels fans!
It’s our pleasure to announce our 2023 officer selections!
The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, selected six new officers to join the team for the 2023 air show season. pic.twitter.com/OA8LRxvtHR
— Blue Angels (@BlueAngels) July 18, 2022
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