Breaking Barriers and Soaring Heights: Celebrating Women's Impact in NATO's Airborne Operations
March 25, 2024 - Defence Stories
Author: Major Alexandre Munoz, Senior Public Affairs Officer for Formation Europe
The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF) in Geilenkirchen, Germany, celebrated the first women flight of an E-3A AWACS aircraft on February 9, 2024.
Caption
Master Corporal Tara Gale is working alongside aircrew teammates from Denmark and Italy to monitor the skies over Poland in their E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. (NATO’s Enhanced Vigilance Activities mission featured a female crew of 22 (out of 24) from eight NATO Allies. The flight highlights female aviators and their contributions to NATO’s air defence.)
Source: NATO
Initially, it was the newly established Women's Initiative Team that wanted to organize this flight not only to break down barriers, but to show what women do on a day-to-day basis in the unit.
"The idea was very simple, just a celebration for International Women's Day. We had to find as many women as possible to take part in the flight and show what women do here on a daily basis," explains Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel Melissa Dupuis, who is training to become the aircraft's Tactical Director, as well as fulfilling the Senior National Representative and Commanding Officer of the Canadian NATO Contingent (CC-NAEW&CF) duties.
Caption
Women assigned to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force gather for a group photo after conducting the first all-female NATO AWACS flight on February 9th, 2024, at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Germany. -NATO Photo by Staff Sgt. (OR-5) Andrew Sarver.
A regular crew consists of a three-person flight crew and a 12-person mission crew, which can be tailored according to the mission. For this flight, the total crew was made up of 22 women from 8 Allied nations, plus two men. Canada was represented by Lieutenant-Colonel Mélissa Dupuis, Major Marianne Godbout and Master Corporal Tara Gale.
So, what was the reality of this flight?
"It's a very enriching experience to have, you know, been part of an event like this. You realize how much enthusiasm it generates in everyone. But it was a normal flight. And I think that's the whole point, which is that it was just women doing their job. Everybody was doing what they’ve been trained for, and it was business as usual. Having already served in this component for four years, it felt like any mission I'd done in the past," explains LCol Dupuis. "If you really want to find a difference between this flight and others, a few of the women mentioned that the atmosphere was different, and we had a lot of fun!"
Upon return, a reception was held and people were waiting to congratulate the crew on reaching a milestone of being part of the first women flight on AWACS, in celebration of International Women's Day. The reception was held not only for the flight, but also to mark the first official event organized by the NAEW&CF Women's Initiative Team.
"Activities like this have long-term effects and goals. I think we really enjoy our work and it's also very important to encourage young women and maybe girls who are thinking of doing something similar but are intimidated because it's typically a male-dominated field," concludes LCol Dupuis.