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thedrifter
08-17-06, 06:01 PM
Friday, August 18, 2006
First Black female pilot honored in memory of Bessie Coleman

By Lance Cpl. Sha’ahn Williams
Combat Correspondent

Capt. Vernice Armour, program liaison officer for the Manpower and Reserve Affairs Equal Opportunity Branch, was recognized at the Fly-Sister-Fly Bessie Coleman Foundation Empowerment Breakfast in Phoenix Aug. 2 for being the first African American female pilot in the Marine Corps and the first African American female combat pilot in Department of Defense history.

At a glance, it would appear that the easy going Chicago-born achiever makes it a priority to create history. But, she says she is not an overachiever or a perfectionist.

‘‘I work hard and strive for my goals and things work out,” Armour said. ‘‘I just don’t want to be average and do average things.”

And true to her word, average, she is not.

In high school, she was a member of Mu Alpha Theta, the mathematics honor society, and class vice president. She joined the U.S. Army Reserves and later the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program in 1993 while enrolled in Middle Tennessee State University.

‘‘I didn’t want to be a pilot when I was a little girl. I wanted to be a police officer,” the young-looking 32-year-old said.

She pursued her childhood dream and took a break from college in 1996 to become a police officer with the Nashville Police department, making history as the second woman and first African American woman on the department’s motorcycle squad.

Returning to school, and the ROTC program, Armour saw something that changed her mind, and would eventually make American military history.

During an ROTC career day, Armour saw a black woman dressed in an Army flight suit. ‘‘It was like a light went off for me,” she said. ‘‘‘Why didn’t I think of that? That looks cool,’ I thought to myself.

‘‘For some reason, I had never thought of the profession in terms of a future or interest for me until that moment when I saw her. Eight years later, here I am,” she added.

In October 1998, after graduating from MTSU in 1997 and serving an additional year in the civilian sector as a police officer, Armour gained admission to Officer Candidates School. She decided to join the Corps because of the challenge it presented after her experience in the Army did not live up to her expectations.

‘‘I always jokingly say that the Army recruited me for the Marine Corps,” Armour laughed. ‘‘And I have been here ever since.”

After completing the primary flight phase in Corpus Christi, Texas, the ambitious second lieutenant moved to Pensacola, Fla., to complete training and moved one step closer to making history.

When Armour finally earned her wings in 2001, the determined pilot ranked No. 1 in her class of 12, and was also No. 1 out of the last 200 to graduate. As the top graduate, she made the Naval Air Station’s prestigious Commodore’s List, received the Academic Achievement Award and made history as the first black female Marine Corps aviator.

‘‘My experience was tough, challenging, and rewarding in many aspects; it left me with many valuable life lessons,” she said.

Armour’s first assignment took her to Camp Pendleton, Calif., where she honed her skills piloting the famed AH-1W Super Cobra, which she flew above the deserts of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The trailblazer used her missile-equipped helicopter to engage the enemy and scout roads to make sure they were safe for her fellow Leathernecks and soldiers on the ground, earning her the position of being the first black female combat pilot.

‘‘There are still many Marines I come in contact with that say they didn’t know there was a black female pilot in the Marine Corps,” Armour said. ‘‘Then I inform them I am not by myself, there have been three of us for almost seven years. Now, another is going through flight school. We need to get aviation out there more.”

As prestigious as her accomplishments have been, Armour said she feels no pressure.

‘‘I do feel a responsibility and an obligation to be a role model, mentor and leader,” she said. ‘‘That’s paramount for the success of the coming generations.”

To help inspire the leaders of tomorrow, the passionate pilot visits schools and youth organizations.

‘‘I will continue to reach out to the youth of our nation, because it is incumbent upon the direction of our future,” she said. ‘‘If we don’t step up, BET, MTV and VH1 will be the ones setting the standards instead of the many capable role models and mentors we have today.”

Armour is currently a member of the Bessie Coleman foundation and the Tuskegee Airman foundation. She is Camp Pendleton’s 2001 Female Athlete of the Year, and twice won the title of the base’s Strongest Warrior competition.

In the future, Armour aspires to become a motivational speaker for the young men and women who are our future leaders.

Ellie

Marine84
08-17-06, 08:24 PM
This is the chick I told ya'll about guys................and I think it was Shadowman or Camper that said that they left out the part where she had to land the thing every so often to go pee.

greensideout
08-17-06, 09:11 PM
What an outstanding display of achievement!

Too bad that it had to be degraded with comments of, "First black female".
She is who she is, she alone earned her way---she didn't need the crutch of being anything else other then who she is. A "person" that saw a goal and conquered it.

I salute this young woman, a person of acheivment!