The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.
Published: September 2, 2012
On May 22, 1912, 1st Lt. Alfred Cunningham reported to Annapolis, Md., for duty, marking the birth of Marine Corps aviation. It was another 81 years, in 1993, before 2nd Lt. Sarah Deal was selected as the first female Marine to attend Naval aviation training.
Deal paved the way for the hundreds of female Marines who have since followedMarines like Capt. Andrea Neagle.
As a senior in high school, Neagle watched the twin towers go down on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and like so many other men and women that day, she decided to join the military.
“It just got me thinking about what I was doing with my life and what I was contributing to the country,” she said.
She applied to the U.S. Naval Academy and, to her own astonishment, was accepted. Neagle spent the next four years learning the ins and outs of military service, before finally deciding she wanted to spend her military career as a Marine.
“I always admired the Marines,” Neagle said. “They took pride in their work and it was always about the Marine you were taking care of.”
As for her occupation, like only a few women before her, she decided she wanted to earn her wings as a Marine aviator and MV-22 Osprey pilot.
“I figured, ‘What’s cooler than flying?’” said Neagle, one of about 10 female Osprey pilotsout of a total 400 Osprey pilotscurrently serving in the Marine Corps.
Neagle said like all other pilots, she’s been taught to see herself as a Marine officer first, and a pilot second.
READ MORE HERE: http://www.stripes.com/news/female-pilots-few-but-proud-1.187803
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