Civilian career Īfter leaving the navy, Shults joined Southwest Airlines as a pilot, flying a part-time schedule of 8–10 days per month so that she could also raise a family following her marriage to fellow naval aviator Dean Shults. Her decorations include two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, and a Marksmanship Medal. In December 1995, she was promoted to lieutenant commander then transitioned to the Navy Reserve, where she flew the F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler until August 2001. She finished her tour of duty in March 1993. Operation Desert Storm ĭuring Operation Desert storm, the Combat Exclusion Policy at that time prevented women from flying combat sorties, so Shults flew training missions as an instructor aggressor pilot for naval aviators.
Shults became one of the first female naval aviators to qualify in the F/A-18 Hornet when the squadron transitioned from the EA-6B Prowler. When the squadron relocated to NAS Lemoore in 1991, Shults became an instructor under the command of CAPT Rosemary Mariner, the first woman to command an operational air squadron. Her next assignment was VAQ-34, a Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron at the Pacific Missile Test Center located at Point Mugu, California. She later qualified in the A-7 Corsair II with training ( RAG) squadron VA-122 at Naval Air Station Lemoore. Naval aviation instructor Īfter Pensacola, Shults was stationed at Naval Air Station Chase Field as a flight instructor for the T-2 Buckeye. After completing the twelve-week course and receiving her commission as an ensign on June 21, 1985, Shults attended flight training, also at NAS Pensacola, where she trained and qualified for her pilot's wings in the T-34. Shults was accepted by the navy for Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola. After being turned down by the air force, she decided to try the navy while doing graduate studies at Western New Mexico University. While at MidAmerica, she met a woman who had qualified as a pilot for the United States Air Force and decided to see if the air force would accept her application for service. įollowing high school graduation, she attended MidAmerica Nazarene College where she earned degrees in biology and agribusiness, graduating in 1983.
ATC COMMUNICATIONS SWA FLIGHT 1380 PROFESSIONAL
During her final year of high school, she investigated the possibility of a career in flying but was told that there were no professional women pilots. Watching these and reading about a missionary pilot, Nate Saint, inspired her to become a pilot too. As a child, she watched jet aircraft from nearby Holloman Air Force Base practice maneuvers in the skies above her home. Tammie Jo Bonnell was born on November 2, 1961, and grew up on a ranch near Tularosa, New Mexico. On April 17, 2018, as captain of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, she safely landed a Boeing 737-700 after the aircraft suffered an uncontained engine failure with debris causing rapid decompression of the aircraft. She retired from Southwest Airlines in 2020. Following active duty she became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. She was one of the first female fighter pilots to serve in the United States Navy. Tammie Jo Shults (born Bonnell born November 2, 1961) is an American retired commercial airline captain, author, and former naval aviator.
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal
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