First AMC woman qualifies for
combat special operations
Capt. Celeste Sanders performs pre-flight checks at
the navigator station on C-141.
Sanders, a C-141 navigator at Charleston AFB, S.C.,
is the first Air Mobility Command woman qualified to
fly combat special operations low-level (
SOLL
II) missions. Sanders has more than 1,000 flying
hours as a navigator in a C-14 Starlifter. (Photo by
Master Sgt. Fernando Serna)
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- A navigator
assigned to Charleston Air Force Base recently became
the first female aircrew member in the Air Mobility
Command to qualify to fly special operations combat
missions.
Capt. Celeste Sanders, a special operations low-level
(SOLL) II map navigator with the
16th Airlift Squadron, follows other Air Force women
who jumped at the opportunity when, in 1993, women
were allowed for the first time to compete for combat
cockpits.
C-141B
SOLL II mission is unique to Charleston
AFB and can require an aircrew to fly into austere
airfields, potentially under hostile conditions. This
can put the crew at the forefront of any contingency.
Prior to completing her month-long SOL
II training, the Northville, Mich. native was involved
in the evacuation during Hurricane Hugo and the deployments
in support of Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation
Desert Shield in Southwest Asia. Sanders has more
than 1,000 flying hours as a navigator in a C-141.
The C-141 special operations capability at Charleston
AFB is built around the use of night vision goggles
and specially trained aircrews. The NVGs give the
aircrews the ability to fly into blacked-out airfields,
land and perform an engine-running offload of personnel
and supplies and return to the air under the cover
of darkness. The ability to operate at night at a
totally blacked-out airfield or to airdrop troops
and equipment accurately on a blacked-out, unmarked
drop zone is what differentiates a SOLL
II crew from other tactically-qualified aircrews.
(Courtesy AMC News Service)
