By Kallee Nielsen
She fixed B-52 bombers before women were permitted to fly them.
In fact, when Heather Bjornson entered the Air Force on active duty in Desert Storm in 1990, women weren”t allowed in combat at all.
“Ten years ago, you couldn”t have a woman running with a gun,” said Bjornson, a 30-year-old from Provo, majoring in international studies.
It was not until 1993 that the Department of Defense opened combat aircraft to women, said Capt. Brett Swigert, BYU assistant professor of aerospace studies.
The current war on terrorism is only the second major U.S. military campaign with women fighter pilots and weapons officers. Kosovo was the first.
But prior to the repeal of the combat exclusion law, women like Bjornson had been serving in so-called “non-combat” missions in the Air Force for more than half a century.
During WWII, more than a thousand women signed up to fly with the U.S. military”s Women Air Force Service Pilots, known as “WASPS”.
Today, despite their emancipated status, Bjornson said women in the Air Force are still faced with some degree of sexism.
When she received a “below the zone” promotion during the Persian Gulf conflict, Bjornson said a couple of comrades in her corps, overlooking her outstanding record, called the promotion a military attempt to achieve a certain gender quota.
“Anytime you deal with the military, you feel a gender difference,” she said.
During her active duty service in the Gulf War, she would sometimes “go weeks” without seeing another female.
Christy Horrocks, 21, a senior from Madison, Ala., majoring in geography, is the second woman in BYU history to hold the title of Cadet Wing Commander – the highest ranking cadet in the ROTC.
Horrocks said generally people are supportive of her role as head cadet.
“Every once in a while, people don”t like the idea of women being in the military,” she said, “and they let me know that.”
But as far as coursework goes, Logistics Group Commander Rachel Payne said males and females do virtually the same things with the exception of the physical skills test, which requires men to complete more pushups than women.
“It”s not like there are the women and then the men,” said Payne, 21, a senior from Yuba City, Calif., majoring in zoology, “There is a core cadet and we”re all treated the same and equally.”
Swigert said the decision to accept a cadet as a pilot candidate is based on aptitude and qualifications, not gender.
Women make up 19 percent of the U.S. Air Force, according to Capt. Bernadette Dozier of the Ogden Air Logistics Center.
But that number is growing, according to Swigert.
Since 1975, the population of women in the Air Force has more than doubled, he said.
However, ground unit combat jobs, such as tank and infantry in the Army, remain closed to women, Swigert said.
