Blake Hall
In the Air Force, airmen reserve a special term of endearment for the warning systems that chatter in the background during flights–Bitchin’ Betty. Think of her as a really powerful, insistent version of Siri. If Bitchin’ Betty tells you to “roll right,” ignoring her might cost you your life.
F/A-18 pilots have enjoyed Leslie Shook’s Southern drawl voice for decades. Now Shook is retiring and passing her Bitchin’ Betty mantle to a new voice actress after 20 years.
The very first Betty was recorded for the F-15 Eagle long before Shook worked at Boeing, but her commands could not be transferred to the new F/A-18. Shook, then a recording engineer, listened to the old tapes on repeat in order to teach voice actors how to convey the “snap” of the oral alert. But when Shook was demonstrating the voice, her superiors realized that she was the best person to become the new Betty.
Shook told the Marine Corps Times that she has never felt offended by the Bitchin’ Betty nickname.
“So much of my career has been spent either right in or right next to that predominantly male world for so long that I understand it for what it is,” she said. “I guess some folks might be offended by it. I never was. I knew it for what it was: A term of affection.”
Voicing Betty is a huge responsibility. When a mission goes wrong, that voice is the last thing a pilot might hear. Alternatively, that same voice can be a pilot’s saving grace. Shook said that when one pilot said that her instructions saved his life, she “hardly knew what to say to this gentleman. I was so overwhelmed with it. It was wonderful. It’s one of those memories, I’ll have with me always, always.”