First female jet pilot in the Italian Navy

In 2000, the Italian parliament decided to open up the armed forces to women. Now, for the first time, a woman, Lieutenant Erika Raballo, has been awarded the American "Wings of Gold". She was awarded the badge together with five male officers at the beginning of March after completing an important stage on the way to becoming a fighter pilot. This makes her the first female jet pilot in the Italian Navy.

Ensign Erika Raballo receives the Wings of Gold

She completed the first steps of her flight training with the "shooters" of Training Sqadron 6 (VT-6) at the Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida. There she took off on the T-6B Texan II, a turboprop aircraft. She later went on to jet training with the "Tigers" of Training Squadron 9 in Meridian, Mississippi. Her training aircraft there was the T-45C. She not only learnt the basic handling of jets on it, but also how to take off and land on an aircraft carrier. This included a briefing on the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) on board the USS Gerald R. Fordthe US Navy's newest aircraft carrier. She now has experience in handling the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) installed there. She received her carrier qualification on 5 February in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. "Landing on an aircraft carrier for the first time was breathtaking," said Raballo.
Raballo will also complete her further training in the United States. She will receive instruction on the F-35B or the AV-8B Harrier from the US Marine Corps. Both models are short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) machines, as used on the only Italian carrier, the INS Cavourare flown or will be flown in the future.

Italian pilot Erika Raballo in front of her T-45C Goshawk

Erika Raballo comes from the small town of Alba in Piedmont. Apart from her uncle, who had spent a year as a conscript, her family had no previous connection to the armed forces. She discovered her love of (military) flying at the age of 16 when she visited an air force base: "I was amazed by what the pilots said and fascinated by a flight in a naval helicopter. The next day I watched 'Top Gun' and was hooked."

Text: mb; Photos: US Navy