Page 6 - Women's History Month 2022 - Combined Special Edition of Aerotech News and Review Nellis AFB Creech AFB Desert Lightning News

A life in flight for first woman ‘Thunderbirds’ pilot

by Airman 1st Class Alexander W. Riedel
Fort Meade, Md.

Since 1953, the Air Force’s air demonstration
team, the Thunderbirds, have captivated specta-
tors across the world and showed its audiences
what the Air Force’s aircraft are capable of.
For two years – from November 2005 to No-
vember 2007 — Lt.Col. Nicole Malachowski sur-
prised audiences not just in the air, but especially
when she stepped out of the cockpit of the fighter
jet as the first woman to be accepted for a seat on
the Air Force’s premier show team.
Being on the crew took Malachowski full circle
to the root of her career, she said. At just 5 years
old, she visited an air show with her parents and
was fascinated by the powerful roar and agility of
the F-4 Phantom II.
“I remember looking my father in the eye and
saying ‘I want to be a fighter pilot some day,’”
Malachowski said.
Soon she began the journey to the cockpit by
participating in the Civil Air Patrol at age 12 and
took to the pilot’s seat for her first solo flight at
age 16 — getting her pilot’s before her driver’s
license. She continued on her path, by applying to
the U.S. Air Force Academy, receiving her com-
mission in May 1996.
Malachowski went on to serve in three opera-
tional F-15E Strike Eagle fighter squadrons, hold-
ing positions as a flight commander and instructor
pilot. She quickly amassed more than 2,300 fly-
ing hours, including 185 hours of combat time in
Operation Deliberate Forge and Operation Iraqi
Freedom. On the ground, she also served along- Air Force photograph by Tech. Sgt. Justin Pyle
side the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division as an Then-Maj. Nicole Malachowski prepares to take off for a practice sortie with the Thunderbirds in an F-16 Fighting Falcon. Malachowski was the
air liaison officer in South Korea. Thunderbird #3 right wing pilot.
In every job, Malachowski excelled, and her
flying talent and real-world experience eventually during a speech at the Women in Military Ser- For her, the teamwork of all Airmen is what Malachowski said she hopes her service in the
got her selected as the first female pilot in any vice for America Memorial at Arlington National makes the Air Force mission possible. Thunderbirds was an example to young girls and
American military air demonstration team. Cemetery in 2006. “Women have been an integral part of the to all children that they can achieve their dreams.
In interviews, however, Malachowski often But her role as a pioneer in the team was not Thunderbird team for decades,” Malachowski “The message to all young Americans is that
repeated that she didn’t think her gender set her said in an Air Force press release; hinting at the it’s great to have a dream; it’s great to have goals,”
apart. lost on the officer. enlisted women who served in support and main- she said. “Pursue something that you are passion-
“What we need to concentrate on is what we “I never thought I would be a Thunderbird,” tenance roles with the Thunderbirds since 1974. ate about, and then pursue excellence in that. And
have in common, which is that warrior spirit that’s she said in 2007. “I still don’t have my arms “The women of yesterday and today’s Air Force surround yourself with a positive team. I hope that
in all of our hearts, that has created us the way around it. I don’t think I have fully grasped the maintain a tradition of excellence, and it is that when they see the Air Force Thunderbirds, they
we are — to choose to be a part of something so significance, and maybe it is something I will fig- heritage that has given me this exciting responsi-
much bigger than ourselves,” Malachowski said ure out in a few years.” realize they can achieve any dream, and that a
bility of being the first female Thunderbird pilot.” great team to have is certainly the Air Force.”
In late November 2007, Malachowski finished In the Thunderbirds’ famous flying diamond
her tour with the Thunderbirds and performed her formation, Malachowski flew in the F-16 Fighting
last show in front her hometown crowd in Las Ve- Falcon No. 3, right wing jet — a position again
gas, Nev. But Malachowski’s career did not stop filled by a woman today. Maj. Lauren Schlicht-
with her last air show. ing..
Leaving behind the stressful schedule of the “Women have been involved in aviation since
show team, she took on new challenges from the time of hot air balloons,” Malachowski said at
supporting senior government leaders as a White the 19th Annual International Women in Aviation
House fellow, to serving as squadron commander Conference in San Diego, March 14, 2008. “It’s
of the 333rd Fighter Squadron at Seymour John- only normal to me that women are going to add
son AFB, N.C. their strength and skills to the effort of pushing
aviation forward.”

Malachowski was medically retired in 2017,
after 21 years of service, because she contracted a
tick-borne illness. In 2019, she was inducted into
the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Air Force photograph by Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
Then-Maj. Nicole Malachowski answers questions at the Women in Aviation and Space Family
Day March 14, 2009 at the National Air and Space Museum’s Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The
event featured female air and space pioneers, including astronauts, a World War II Women Airforce
Service Pilot and several aerospace experts at exhibit booths where visitors could learn hands-on
about science and flying. Major Malachowski was the first female Thunderbirds pilot.

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