Page 55 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2021

NOVEMBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AIRPOWER 55
A WEALTH OF EXPERIENCE
Prior to assuming command of 10 Sqn, WGCDR Jovanov- ich had a long and distinguished career as an operational and experimental test pilot.
Upon completing pilot training in 2006, she flew the AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft for four and a half years on a broad array of exercises and operations around the world.
“We’re talking looking for pirates off the coast of Soma- lia, looking for submarines off the coast of Southern Cali- fornia, doing search and rescue in the Southern Ocean, as well as three tours of duty in the Middle East,” WGCDR Jovanovich said. “That was an amazing thing to happen to somebody in their twenties.”
Following her stint as a P-3 captain, WGCDR Jovanovich became qualified as an experimental test pilot after com- pleting one year of training at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The privilege of such an opportunity was not lost to an aeroplane enthusiast like WGCDR Jovanovich.
“Even just going to where that school is – Edwards Air
Force Base – was a dream come true for me,” she said. “Edwards is the home of flight test. That’s where Chuck Yeager first went supersonic in 1947, it’s where the space shuttle used to land as an alternate landing field, so it was an amazing place to be.”
She notes that, while exceptionally rewarding, Test Pilot School was no easy feat. The prestigious institution has graduated less than 3,000 students in more than 70 years of operation – when she graduated in 2014, WGCDR Jo- vanovich was the first Australian in 25 years to do so. The course involved a two-year Master’s degree compressed into one year, along with practical training in flying 23 different types of aircraft.
IT’S ABOUT PEOPLE
Despite such memorable experiences, she says that if she had to choose the single most rewarding part of her 20 years in the Air Force so far; “It’s the people that I’ve worked with, always”.
And it’s the people to which she attributes the success of 10 Sqn today.