Team Fairchild performs all -women refueling flight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Whitney Laine
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
An all-female air refueling mission was performed by Team Fairchild Airmen today in honor of Women’s History Month at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.

The effort highlighted women’s integration in every aspect of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing mission, which is to provide responsive air refueling and agile combat support across the full-range of military operations.

“Having an all-women crew gave us a valuable opportunity to remember and recognize what we bring to the fight,” said Chief Master Sgt. Andrea Inmon, 92nd Operations Group boom operator chief enlisted manager. “We hope to symbolize to other women that anything is possible if you work hard.”

The flight commemorated Raymonde de Laroche, a pioneer in aviation and the first woman in the world to receive a pilot’s license more than 100 years ago in March 1910.

“There’s no ceiling on the opportunities available to women in the Air Force today,” said Maj. Emma Steinbar, 384th Air Refueling Squadron instructor pilot. “The integration of women has evolved and grown… it is normal to have women involved in almost every capacity to retain the world’s greatest Air Force.”

According to the Air Force Personnel Center, women currently make up 20.3 percent of the Air Force, a drastic increase of 17.1 percent since 1973, according to Pew Research.

While this wasn’t the first all-women mission Team Fairchild performed, these flights continue to pay homage to the long road women have traveled for equality.