Page 6 - Women's History Month 2021 - Combined Special Edition of Luke AFB Thunderbolt | Davis-Monthan AFB Desert Lightning News

6 February 26, 2021 Aerotech News
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Capt. June Ritterbusch

U.S. army, 1992-2001 had Hueys in Vicenza. I got to be a flight operations officer
there. I was in a special company that was commanded by a
Army Aviation
major and we had C-12s and Hueys. The C-12 is a fixed wing
Editor’s Note: This veteran’s story has been transcribed from airplane, and it was mostly used for ferrying the generals
her own words during an in-person interview. Only minor edits around. I was involved in getting the air clearances so that
have been made for clarity. we could fly over the different countries, which was really
I graduated from college in 1992 on an ROTC scholarship. interesting for me, because it’s something really different. We
As cadets, we go to this thing called Advanced Camp between were dealing with the people at the U.S. embassies of the dif-
our junior and senior year at college. When I was at camp, I ferent countries. I’d have to call a person whose specialty was
met someone who honestly didn’t strike me as that smart. He Austria, because Austria was not part of NATO or the NATO
told me he was going to apply for aviation. I thought if that guy countries. We pretty much had air rights, but anything where
could do aviation, why couldn’t I do aviation? So, I got lucky — I we didn’t have air rights, we had a call the right person to get
applied for aviation and I got picked. I was lucky. I say I was the right clearance, and all that stuff has to be anticipated.
lucky, but I had worked really hard in college. I had a bachelor’s What was really interesting is that we were on an Italian
and a master’s degree in economics, and I had studied really airfield, and I was the operations officer for my unit. But, we
hard. I was looking forward to a great career in the Army. In were subject to the rules of the Italians, and sometimes they
1992, the economy was really exciting. I wanted to go on active would close down the airfield. They’re more apt to close it down
duty because I really wanted to travel the world. I wanted to than we are in the United States. It’s like a cultural thing. Like,
get out, see things, and meet people. So they sent me off to Fort we’re very service oriented, but sometimes they would close Courtesy photo
Rucker, and I spent a year there. I’d gotten there right at the it, and it wouldn’t be very obvious why they were closed. For
end of May, so straight from college to Fort Rucker. I always example, you have to have a fire department that’s ready to go, inside that we have to work through to realize that we’re all
joke with folks that, going from Boston University to lower but maybe the Italian firefighters just weren’t all at work at human beings, and we all deserve fair treatment.
Alabama, was the bigger culture shock. Later on, when I got that moment. So I’d have a C-12 up in the air, he’s talking to One time, I happened to be the last one out at night. I didn’t
stationed in Germany — that was like where I came from in me and says, “Hey, the airfield’s closed. We need to land.” And realize that I was the last one, and I didn’t lock up the hangar
Boston. But, Alabama, that was a little different than where I’d have to go charm the Flight Ops officer. The Italians didn’t doors. I was stationed in Germany at the time and my company
I came from. So I spend my year training in Alabama, and I have women in their military at that time period, so for them, commander was so mad, he just wrote out a statement and
finally get to my first duty station in the fall of ‘93. a woman walking into their operations office is already pretty sat me down and made me sign it. I didn’t realize it at the
You know what happens to the new lieutenant when they strange. And I would smile and have a little espresso with time, but he was afraid that I was just going to be a mess-up
first show up at the battalion? You get the job that doesn’t the Italian operations officer and ask them, “Please, please, all along. It was just a one-time mistake, and that’s one of the
exist. So, they made me Assistant S-4, and I was in charge of could you open up so my C-12 can land?” It usually worked examples of later on, after we’d worked together for a long
porta-potties — where to put them, right? I’m like “I have a out, and then I got so good at it, that it was always my job to time, he said, “I’m going to treat you like everybody else.” And
master’s degree in economics, I have flight wings, and I’m in go charm the Italians. I was like, “Really? No kidding? That’s what the regulations
charge of where the porta-potty goes?” That was quite a shock People always want to know, “what was it like to be a woman require.” But I wasn’t as big of a smart ass back then.
to me that the Army had invested so much in me — I had all in the military?” It’s hard for me to know what was different I spent 10 years in the Army. I met my husband when I was
this education — and you still start at the bottom of the totem about my experience that other people didn’t experience. One a second lieutenant, and he was a first lieutenant. Since we got
pole for officers. thing that I experienced a few different times in my early together and ended up getting married, the military has had
So, I had to wait my turn to be a platoon leader, and a year career was when I was a lieutenant. When you first meet your such a profound impact on where I’ve ended up in my life. I
later my turn came up. I was the Huey platoon leader. At that new boss and they’re a rank above you and they would give never would have thought I would live in Texas. I never would
time, we were down to just a few Hueys left. The Army was you some sort of briefing, and later on, when they’re evaluating have imagined where I am now. It’s really ironic, because I said
making this big push to switch from Hueys to Blackhawks, you, they have to talk about what criteria and how you’re do- I wanted to travel to foreign countries and meet people, and
but it was a big problem because they couldn’t train all the ing. And it happened to me a few different times in my career what ended being the most interesting were the people from
Huey pilots. So, I spent two years with that unit in Hanau, that the senior officer would say to me, “I decided to treat you my own country who I served with — who really made me
Germany. I was in the 1st Armored Division, and I was really just like the men.” I was really stumped, like that’s supposed realize that we have a lot going on right here in our country.
fortunate that I was able to go to Vicenza, Italy, from there to be a given. Everyone’s supposed to be treated the same. So We just need to embrace each other and work together. The
because I leveraged the idea that I was a Huey pilot and they I think that just shows that sometimes we have a mindset military was a good place for doing that.

fiGhTErS (from Page 3) flyover tribute to honor the life and service “Whenever I was growing I would ferent from that of her male peers. Perfor-
of Capt. Rosemary Mariner, the first female aspire to certain things and ask myself, mance and work ethic are the metrics that
literal and figurative heavy-lifting. commanding officer of a tactical jet squad- ‘why aren’t there more women?’” said have mattered in her career, not gender.
“I’m so thankful for the women who had ron, in 2019. A total of five F/A-18F Super Reyes. “There is a sense of awesomeness This rings true for Blok and many other
the courage to say ‘we do more than the Hornets with an all-female crew formed the when a trailblazer sets a course for you. female servicemembers in combatant roles.
prescribed roles we had as military women missing (wo)man formation as a tribute. Women becoming astronauts, striving in “There are times in a male-dominated
let us show you’,” said McCarty. “We have “She was an incredible leader who played STEM [science, technology, engineering field where you can feel you don’t belong,”
grown miraculously. We can do anything a direct role in ensuring we could all do the and mathematics] programs and piloting said Reyes. “Keep working hard. If you
from taking care of babies, cooking, caring jobs we aspired to do as little girls,” said aircraft is very important. Our presence show the grit, deal with the grime and keep
for the wounded. Now we take the fight to Blok referring to Capt. Mariner and her shows women can be something in a male- pushing you can achieve your dreams. I love
the enemy. I value all that I can do as a fellow female aircrew. dominated field.” seeing female empowerment. It gives us
woman including my role as a mother. It Like Blok, Lt. Natasha Reyes, assigned to Blok said that early on, male allies played an opportunity to support each other, and
makes me feel especially proud my daugh- the “Swamp Foxes” of Helicopter Maritime a critical role in enabling women to serve in serves as a reminder that we are not alone.
ter can say her mom builds jet engines.” Strike Squadron 74, wanted to be a pilot role in the military. She noted that because The sky is not the limit. We have astronauts,
Lt. Cmdr. Paige Blok, an F/A-18F Super when she was a girl and didn’t let anyone of those “firsts” and their advocates, her right? You can go above and beyond as long
Hornet pilot assigned to VFA 32, led the tell her she didn’t have what it took. experience has been more similar than dif- as you put your mind to it.”