Mau said gender has no bearing on her performance as a fighter pilot, and joked that the only difference between her and her fellow F-35 pilots is the “extra small” size of her G-suit and oxygen mask, according to the release.
“Flying is a great equalizer,” said Mau. “The plane doesn’t know or care about your gender as a pilot, nor do the ground troops who need your support. You just have to perform. That’s all anyone cares about when you’re up there – that you can do your job, and that you do it exceptionally well.”
“Lt. Col. Mau brings a valuable level of combat and operational knowledge to our team,” said Col. Todd Canterbury, 33rd Fighter Wing commander. “We’re nearly a year out from declaring Initial Operational Capability with the F-35. We need battle-tested pilots to help us put the F-35A through its paces and ensure we have a trained and ready force of F-35 pilots to feed into our combat air forces.”
Mau’s previous combat experience came in the cockpit of an F-15E Strike Eagle over Afghanistan while with the 389th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. While deployed there, Mau also made history as part of the first all-female combat sortie. From the mission planners and maintainers to the pilots and weapons system officers (WSOs), who flew it, the entire mission was carried out entirely by women. The combat mission provided air support to coalition and Afghan forces in the Kunar Valley, Afghanistan, according to the Air Force.
Lt. Col. Christine Mau, 33rd Operations Group deputy commander, prepares to exit her F-35A after completing her first training flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., May 5, 2015. Mau, who previously flew F-15E Strike Eagles, made history as the first female F-35 pilot in the program. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Marleah Robertson
“Lt. Col. Mau brings a valuable level of combat and operational knowledge to our team,” said Col. Todd Canterbury, 33rd Fighter Wing commander. “We’re nearly a year out from declaring Initial Operational Capability with the F-35. We need battle-tested pilots to help us put the F-35A through its paces and ensure we have a trained and ready force of F-35 pilots to feed into our combat air forces.”
“As a service, we need to attract the most innovative and skillful Airmen possible for one reason – it makes us more effective,” said Canterbury. “The broader the net that we cast into the talent pool, coupled with a laser focus on performance, ensures we have the best Airmen in place to carry out the mission. Performance is key, and it’s the standard we hold all of our Airmen to in the Air Force,” said Canterbury in the release.