Blake Hall
When the Blue Angels started back in 1946, the founders required all of its pilots to be bachelors.
Bachelors. As in unmarried men. As in male. Only.
Well pack that silly rule in mothballs and let it collect cobwebs because this past weekend its silly fate was sealed when Marine Corps Capt. Katie Higgins became the very first female member of the elite flight demonstration squadron at the Marine Corps Beaufort Air Show in South Carolina.
“I saw the Blue Angels fly when I was a young kid,” Marine Corps Capt. Katie Higgins said. “I was definitely inspired by that.”
The Severna Park, Maryland native and 2008 United States Naval Academy graduate is a third-generation military aviator and — according to Blue Angels commander Capt. Tom Frosch — was simply the “right person for the team”.
“My dad was an A-7 pilot initially, and then he transferred to the F-18 Hornet, which is actually out here on the line,” Higgins said. “It’s a great family legacy to have, that’s for sure.”
“I think by including a lady on the team, that just shows little girls and guys that women can do whatever they put their mind to,” Higgins said. “Little girls have told me that they didn’t even know that ladies could fly aircraft, that women could be in the cockpit.”