Her appointment to the USAF Thunderbirds was almost pre-ordained, Capt. Samatha Weeks believes.
She's been aiming for it her whole life.
Capt. Weeks will join Maj. Nicole Malachowski, the first woman ever assigned to a military aerial demonstration team, on the team in 2007 (PF, July '06). We requested a photo of the newest female T-Bird, currently assigned as an F-15 pilot at Elmendorf AFB, Alas. and got two; unfortunately they arrived three days after the July issue was published.
Nevertheless, like Malachowski, she is worth seeing. Not only are these two women hot jet pilots but also two of the most beautiful fighter jocks you'll ever come across, which no doubt played a part in their selection as the Air Force (like the Navy) is very particular about how their front-line demo pilots appear to the public.
She's currently an F-15C (single seat) fighter instructor pilot with the 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf, with experience at the squadron and group level in both operational flying and non-flying units.
She graduated from the Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1997 and earned a Master of Arts in Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma in 2005.
As of July 7th, she had 1,025.2 hours in the F-15, including 105.7 hours of combat and combat support time.
Once the news was released the Anchorage Daily News managed to get an interview with her and sent reporter Katie Pesznecker for the story. We bought the story and all her quotes are from that interview.
Weeks said she got the news that she'd been selected for the T-Birds during a routine debriefing which usually are never interrupted for anything. However, when they found out it was Gen. Robert Keyes, the commander of the Air Combat Command, on the line, an exception was made.
"His comment to me was, 'Hey, Combo (her call sign), I have a job opening for you next year. Do you want to take it?' And I said, 'Uh, yes sir!"
Then the 30-year-old former Air Force brat discovered what it was.
"It's an amazing honor and I'm definitely humbled by the experience," the 5'7" athlete told Pesznecker.
Married to Curtis Weeks, an Air Force intelligence officer, ironically from her home town of Rome, N.Y. (although they didn't know each other in high school), Weeks said she knew exactly when she wanted to be a fighter pilot.
Her father was part of an Air Force maintenance crew on a KC-135 and took her along once on an overseas flight when she was six. They let her set next to the refueling boom operator as they sailed across the ocean and she got to watch as they gassed the fighters.
"I was about 10 feet from the fighter pilot in his aircraft," Weeks reported, "and I thought that was the neatest thing I'd ever seen and I needed to do that when I grew up."
She entered the Academy in 1993, the first year women were allowed to fly fighters.
"I just think everything had been lining me up so I could do what I always wanted to do," she told Pesznecker. "Now I'm that fighter pilot at the other end of the boom."
When the Alaskan reporter asked Weeks her favorite military-themed movie, she said she didn't have one as a 30-year-old, but when she was 12, it was "Top Gun." And what about her call sign, Combo? Pesznecker said Weeks turned pink and blushed "clear to her blond roots" but declined to say what it meant.
"It's a typical fighter pilot story," was all her wing spokeswoman, Capt. Kelly Jeter, would say. (Capt. Jeter, incidentally, is responsible for getting our photos and information on Capt. Weeks and is a peach. Nellis could take lessons.)
Weeks listed her hobbies as running, hiking, learning golf and "getting out and exploring all the Alaska towns." She's been stationed at Elmendorf for two years but reported to the Thunderbirds last month.
She will fly as an opposing solo and will spend the summer and fall learning not only the routine but flying the F-16. It will mean separation from her husband, whom she met when they were both deployed to Turkey for Operation Northern Watch and Weeks was patrolling the No Fly Zone of Iraq.
They've been married almost five years.
Although her husband doesn't fly - he says he "types" for a living - he's cool with the fact that his wife is a Super Hot Fighter Jock.
As for being on the second female to be named to the T-Birds, Weeks said it's not a big issue.
"It doesn't make it any more special or different to me," she told the reporter. "All I want to do is be an Air Force officer and a fighter pilot and serve. The recruiting the Thunderbirds do for the Air Force is invaluable ... I really felt it was a great opportunity for me to give back."
MILITARY BACKGROUND
Her military experience is extensive. She began her flying career in November 1997 at Laughlin AFB, Tex., moved to jet training in December 1998 and was sent to the F-15C Formal Training Unit (FTU), 1st Fighter Squadron, Tyndall AFB, Fla. from March to October, 1999.
She has also served at Langley and Nellis AFB's before being sent to Elmendorf. She holds 11 awards and decorations, including the Air Force Commendation Medal (one Oak Leaf Cluster) as well as Combat Readiness Medal (two Oak Leaf Clusters), National Defense Service Medal (one Bronze star), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
She was won numerous Air Force and squadron awards in competitions and been nominated for many more, 26 in all, including winning a Top Gun award flying T-38s.
And how many women fighter pilots in the Navy are wondering if the Blue Angels will ever go co-ed?
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