Lt. Amanda Lee of the United States Navy was named the team’s first female demonstration pilot. On July 18, the Blue Angels announced on their Facebook page that Lee would be joining the elite unit. The F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot is now assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106, which is based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.
According to a social media post, Lt. Lee is one of six officers selected to join the legendary air show squad in 2023. Although the ladies have served the elite Blue Angels in various roles for more than 55 years, this will be the first time since the club’s founding in 1946 that the air show team will feature a female pilot.
Congratulations to Lt. Amanda Lee, who has been selected to join @Blue Angels as the first female fighter jet demonstration pilot. Sound barriers are not the only thing she breaks through. He will begin intensive training with the other announced new members. #flynavy #womeninthenavy pic.twitter.com/s4v6FcLNOq
— USNavyCNO (@USNavyCNO) July 18, 2022
Everything you need to know about Amanda Lee
Amanda Lee was born in Mounds View, Minnesota. She was a student at the University of Minnesota who decided to join the Navy after graduation. According to the US Navy, she joined and completed Recruit Training Command Great Lakes in 2007 and then began working as an avionics technician. She received her commission in 2013 after being selected to participate in the Sailor to Admiral Designation Program.
That same year, she graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. Amanda Lee joined the United States Navy as a Naval Aviator in April 2016. Amanda Lee was one of nine pilots who honored the late Capt. Rosemary Bryant Mariner by participating in a women-only flyover following her death in 2019.
According to the New York Post, Amanda Lee thanked the Mariner for her service in the Navy to ensure that “equal opportunity” is no longer in our language for future generations. Before Lee, Marine Major Katie Higgins joined the Blue Angels in 2015, becoming the squadron’s first female pilot. From 2014 to 2016, she flew the C-130 Hercules cargo plane, better known as Fat Albert. Being selected to fly with the Blue Angels is a great honor as the squadron acts as an ambassador for US Naval Aviation.
According to the United Services Organization website:
“The goal of the Blue Angels is to demonstrate the capability and coordination of the Navy and Marine Corps through flight displays and community engagement.”
Lt. Lee is one of five new squadron members unveiled on July 18, 2022. LCDR Thomas Zimmerman, LCDR Brian Vaught, Capt. Samuel Petko, LCDR Greg Jones and Lt. Philippe Warren are among the others. The newest recruits will join the squadron for two months of training in September 2022. Air Performance 2022 will conclude in November, after which newly enlisted personnel will face a grueling five-month training program at California’s Naval Air Facility and NAS Pensacola.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education