The air force yesterday held an event at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County featuring the nation’s first female fighter pilots — Chiang Ching-hua (蔣青樺), Chiang Hui-yu (蔣惠宇) and Fan Yi-lin (范宜鈴).
Between the three captains, female aviators now pilot all three types of the nation’s frontline fighter jets, the AIDC F-CK-1, the Dassault Mirage 2000 and the Lockheed Martin F-16, Air Force Command said.
The three women are graduates of the Air Force Academy’s class of 2014 and attended flight school together at Chihhang, where they received instruction on T-34 and AIDC AT-3 training aircraft, it said.
Photo: Tu Chu-min, Taipei Times
Fan, Chiang Ching-hua and Chiang Hui-yu have been assigned to the 1st, 2nd and 4th Tactical Fighter Wings respectively, it added.
The women flew their aircraft from their units’ assigned posts to Chihhang for the event.
The three will help to break the stereotype that women are unsuited for service as fighter pilots, the command said, adding that flight instructors concluded from their training that gender has no bearing on fighter pilot skills.
Chiang Ching-hua, who pilots the Mirage 2000 and hails from a military family, said that she wanted to be a fighter pilot since attending an air force open base event as a child and seeing her first Mirage.
Entranced by the warplane’s graceful lines and aerobatics display, she said that she enrolled at the academy as soon as she could.
Fighter pilot training was grueling, but she overcame the hardships thanks to the camaraderie of her fellow trainees, she said, adding that when she first climbed into a cockpit, the intricacies of flying pushed all other thoughts out of her mind.
“I did not even remember that I had dreamed of that moment, but then the airplane took off and the excitement was indescribable,” Chiang Ching-hua said.
She thanked her parents for their support, despite considerable nervousness, saying that her mother came from a military community and had grown up seeing officers delivering “bad news” to families.
“Nowadays, whenever my mother sees a fighter jet, she calls to ask: ‘Was that you?’ to which I reply: ‘Mom, not every fighter jet is flown by your daughter,’” Chiang Ching-hua said.
Fan, who flies the F-CK-1, said: “A lot of people ask me if there is any difference between male and female pilots, or if flying is hard on my body. The answer is always no.”
“G-force and the mission do not sexually discriminate, nor do the air force’s standards,” she added.
Chiang Hui-yu, who pilots the F-16, said: “Where there is will and perseverance, there is nothing you cannot do.”
She said she is always honing her skills as a pilot to challenge herself and to protect her nation.
In related news, the Ministry of National Defense’s remark on Saturday that Major Yang Yun-hsuan (楊韻璇) is the first female AH-64 Apache pilot in Asia appears to be incorrect, as Singapore Army Captain Joyce Xie was identified as a pilot of the attack helicopter in a 2012 report by the Singaporean Ministry of Defence.
Taiwan’s military has pushed to open more occupational specialties to women, who comprised 13.6 percent of the nation’s volunteer armed forces last year.
Women are able to serve as infantry, artillery gunners, military police, aviators and missile operators, as well as most positions in the navy.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
RSS