The United States Under Secretary of the Air Force or USecAF (currently Melissa Dalton), has highlighted the role of women
in national security.
Women are able to serve in all roles in the United States Air Force
and some requirements (like physical requirements) are different. Separately,
China has recently opened up naval aviation to female pilots
saying women have ‘unique advantages’ in certain things.
US stronger for participation of women in armed forces
At the 2024 Women in Defense National Conference on September 24, USecAF Melissa Dalton emphasized that women are one of the US’s competitive advantages. She also stated that more people are involved in national defense than those service members who wear the uniform.
Photo: US Air Force
“Our female Airmen and Guardians are operationally effective, they are resilient, and they are downright lethal — when we empower them to be.” Melissa Dalton USecAF
The Air Force stated, “There is no doubt that women are involved with not only serving in and out of uniform, but also within the defense industrial base, which is made up of a vast network of facilities, organizations, and other resources that provide support to military operations.”
The Air Force also noted that teams like the Women’s Initiatives Team have played a large part in removing barriers to women serving. Examples include changing women’s hair regulations, adjusting policies that pregnant women can choose to fly throughout their pregnancies on certain airframes, and requiring all units to provide sanitary lactation rooms.
The USecAF is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the Department of the Air Force and served directly under the secretary of the Air Force
(currently Frank Kendall III). According to the Space Force (which is part of the Department of the Air Force), Dalton is “...responsible for organizing, training, and equipping the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.”
Melissa Dalton shared anecdotes of women in Air & Space Force
Women playing key role in the Air Force
USecAF Melissa Dalton spoke of anecdotes such as stories like when retired US Air Force Col. Kim Campbell had a harrowing landing near Iraq in hear A-10 Warthog
after her aircraft had taken heavy enemy fire during a close air support mission (the incident took place 12 years before all US combat roles were opened to women).
Another anecdote was that of retired US Air Force Maj. Heather Penney who took off on 9/11 in her F-16
Fighting Falcon without munitions. She had a “full understanding that her mission was to use her aircraft to bring down the remaining hijacked airplane” that fateful day. The aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania before she could complete that mission.
Photo: Lockheed Martin
Women playing key role in the Space Force
One anecdote from the Space Force concerned Maj. Justine Pescetello-Parr. She was part of a team that detected over a dozen intermediate-range ballistic missiles headed for Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. The speed with which the team saved hundreds of American lives when the missiles struck the base. The incident is likely a reference to Iran’s Operation Martyr Soleimani in January 2020.