1:01
- living
- July 28, 2020
1st Black female tactical pilot gets her wings
One woman is soaring to new heights.
1:01
Swegle said that she's dreamed of being a pilot ever since she was young and her parents would take her to see the Blue Angels, the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, when they would come to her hometown.
\"My parents raised me and they told me that I can be whatever I wanted to be. We would go see the Blue Angels when they were in town. I don't remember specifically how old I was, but they were just so cool I loved them. I love fast planes,\" said Swegle.
Swegle called the process of training with a higher-performance aircraft at this level \"daunting,\" but also exhilarating and \"rewarding.\"
\"[Jet piloting] is fun because it is difficult at the same time. I know that I had to work to get [the jet] to behave and it took a lot of fighting the aircraft and figuring out how it was going to perform,\" she explained in the video about her three years of training. \"Looking back it's amazing to think about where I started and I had never been in an airplane before so, it's just one step at a time. It's really cool to think of all of the things I've done now which I'd never think I'd be able to do.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/Swegle-1-ht-er-200728_1595961656482_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
Swegle follows in the footsteps of Brenda E. Robinson, the first Black female naval aviator, who earned her Wings of Gold on June 6, 1980, according to the statement.
On July 7, Swegle's friend took to Twitter to share the good news about her \"best friend making history.\" The post has since garnered more than 191,000 likes and many congratulations for Swegle on her success.
Just my best friend making history pic.twitter.com/k0qG8kaZTr
— Miss Alissa (@paigealissa) July 7, 2020
\"Her story begins, we see you Captain Marvel,\" read one comment.
\"I don't know this woman, but I am so proud of her and her accomplishment,\" read another.
Her story begins, we see you captain marvel pic.twitter.com/qc1z5mQems
— CFCSoso_official (@Sosoofficial1) July 8, 2020
Swegle said that she wants to uplift other women and minorities with her story.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/navy-02-as-ht-200724_1595604859281_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
\"I think that representation is important because we are a very diverse nation. So I would like everybody to believe that they can achieve whatever they want to do,\" said Swegle.
\"I guess I hope that my legacy will be that there will be a lot of other women and minority women and just different faces that come forward ... be encouraged and just know that they have all the tools that they need and follow their dreams,\" she added.
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