First woman appointed commander of IAF aviation squadron
Continuing recent trend of appointing female pilots to senior positions previously filled solely by men, IAF Commander announces woman to be new aviation Squadron commander.
The Commander of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, appointed on Tuesday 35-year-old Major T. to the position of Commander of the Aviation Squadron—making her the first female to fill the post.
Major T. will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and will be the first officer in this position and rank.
Major T., who along with the appointment will also be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, is a transport pilot by training. Her new position will make her responsible for operational activity at Hatzor Airbase, where she serves.
T., who is married to an air force officer and is a mother of two, will not only be the first woman in the position, but the first to finish a pilot course and reach the rank of lieutenant colonel during her military service.
She will join two other female pilots who recently cracked the glass ceilings: a navigator who was appointed first deputy commander of the combat squadron and a another transport pilot who is currently undergoing the preciously-male-only IAF squadron commander course.
The commander of the air force also appointed Major M., a female air traffic controller, to command the control unit in the operational headquarters.
M. will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and will be the first air traffic controller to be promoted to this rank.
About two months ago, Maj. Gen. Norkin announced the appointment of a woman as a deputy commander of a combat squadron.
The officer, an F-15 navigator, will serve in the Spearhead Squadron at the Tel-Nof Airbase. She will be promoted to the rank of major in the summer, and will be the first female officer to serve in the senior position.
There has been some backlash against this recent trend in appointments. Both Safed Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and Bayit Yehudi MK Betzalel Smotrich voicxed their reservations over this "phenomenon," with the former even calling for IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot to "pack his bags and go home," deeming him unfit for his position.
