US Navy Lieutenant J.G. Madeline Swegle has made history as she becomes the first-ever female African American tactical jet pilot. She is set to formally receive her gold wings at a ceremony later in July as a newly minted Naval Aviator.

News have it that  Lt Swegle had successfully completed the final stage of her Tactical Air (Strike) aviator training had first emerged on July 7.

This was louded by her when a personal friend with Twitter handle @PaigeAlissa, on a series of tweets.

“Just my best friend making history,” she tweeted, captioning two photos of Swegle.

To reach her current position in the Navy, she would have had to successfully complete rigorous training, including flight school courses, aviation indoctrination, and other certifications.

A small percentage of applicants are accepted into Naval Flight School and an even smaller percentage make it through.

Tire Meets Road reports that Reddit sleuth ZugZugWorkWorkDabu confirmed Swegle’s achievement, deciphering that her Navy O-2 rank is equivalent to First Lieutenant in the Army, Air Force, and Marines.

Also added:

“I can confirm she had her last flight today in Kingsville with VT-21 doing SEM (Section Engaged Manuevering.) She CQ’d (Carrier Qualified) a few months ago. So this is a legit person and photo.

“She is wearing her soft wings in this photo, signifying that she completed her undergraduate pilot training – she will be officially winged on some other day.

After this, she will find out where she is going – whether it is to fly the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, or F-35C Lightning II (unless she had selected E-2/C-2 before this out of Primary Flight Training, then she will go that route).”

Confirming this achievement and clearing all doubts is the Chief of Naval Air Training’s (CNATRA) public affairs vie its official twitter handle.

“BZ to Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle on completing the Tactical Air (Strike) aviator syllabus,” the Tweet from CNATRA reads, using the abbreviation for “Bravo Zulu,” a term the Navy, among others, uses as a way of saying “job well done.” Swegle is the @USNavy’s first known Black female TACAIR pilot and will receive her Wings of Gold later this month.” It stated.

The Navy has yet to release a detailed official biography of Swegle’s career in the service so far.

“So she is married to my room mate [sic]. She’s gonna fly EA-18G Growlers,” a poster on Reddit wrote earlier, but this remains unconfirmed. Graduates of the TACAIR training program primarily go on to fly F/A-18E/F Super Hornets or F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, as well.

More so, Swegle’s achievement comes some 46 years after naval aviator Rosemary Mariner became the first woman in the Navy to fly tactical jets in 1974. Mariner, who eventually rose to the rank of captain and also became the first woman to assume command of an aviation squadron anywhere in the U.S. military, retired in 1997 and sadly passed away last year after a battle with cancer.

This also comes 25 years after retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally, now a Republican Senator from Arizona, became the first American woman to fly in combat for any service.

As of 2018, just 2.7 percent of Navy pilots were African American and just under two percent were assigned to units flying F/A-18C/D Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, E-2 Hawkeyes, and C-2A Greyhounds, according to Military.com. As of July 2019, African Americans made up 13.4 percent of the total U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, though this only counts individuals who identified as being only one race.

On June 30, 2020, the Navy announced the establishment of Task Force One Navy “to address the issues of racism, sexism and other destructive biases and their impact on naval readiness.” Navy Rear Admiral Alvin Holsey is leading the task force and will now produce a report for Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday.

“As a Navy – uniform and civilian, active and reserve – we cannot tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind,” Gilday said in a statement announcing the creation of the task force. “We must work to identify and eliminate individual and systemic racism within our force.”

A Twetter user, @forev4rfine, overwhelmed by LTJG Swegle’s achievement Tweeted –

“OMG do you know how many times I’ve asked why you don’t see any Black pilots at our commands? Let alone a Black woman. I’m so happy for her, like I know her.”

Reacting to the tweet, @Kosheen18, shared his family experience, noting that not everything is about racism.

“My grandfather was a WWII air force pilot.” He Tweeted.

“They disbanded Red Tails, the real beginning of civil rights, not the Marxists who pretended they did. Yes you heard me right. To answer your question, the air force was run by satanists, C-A, Bush, dr*gs, weapons, human trafficking. Not everything is race.”

Lieutenant J.G. Madeline Swegle is certainly a prime example of how the service can progress in this regard.

The game is getting better!