A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, no one knew that she was about to become the most controversial student ever to come through the base -- and one whose actions and influence would either directly or indirectly affect the careers of more than half-a-dozen senior officers.  And she would ruin the career of a mid-level Marine officer.  In addition, her influence and the 'feminism' which she represented would lead to a campaign of terror against tens of junior flight instructors.

To many disenchanted aviators, she represents 'affirmative action' gone awry.  In an attempt to help one lone woman become a fighter pilot, they say, the U.S. Government wasted time and money, endangered the lives of experienced pilots and short-shrifted more deserving male students.  Most importantly, they say, the Navy lowered its standards -- which diminishes the training program, other aviators, and the military's operational readiness.  Others will argue that the Navy's historic lack of minority representation -- particularly in jet aviation -- demands that women and minorities be provided extra opportunities.  Nevertheless, by the time The Student Pilot left the base, the resentment she had engendered remained so palpable that few dared speak of her aloud.  This is her story.

The Student Pilot immediately set herself apart from her fellow trainees in a series of incidents that involved fraternization.  This activity is defined by the Navy as an unduly familiar senior-subordinate relationship, which can erode respect and detract from good order and discipline.

The Student Pilot moved in with two male flight instructor pilots -- and had to be told by a commander that this was not allowed.  Later on, she went on a cross-country training flight with an instructor and the two shared a hotel room.  Neither incident brought the student or the instructors any sort of official reprimand.
The student was having difficulty with the jet training program.  During flight training, instructors grade the students on their performance -- how well they handle the airplane, if they followed proper procedures and whether they meet certain criteria.  And they get a grade -- above average, average, below average or unsatisfactory.  An 'unsat' is also called a 'down,' and it means that the student failed that part of the training.

If a student receives three downs, he or she faces a Progress Review Board (PRB) to determine if the student should continue training or not.  Although students can be attrited (removed from the program) at any time, Navy training instructions list five downs as the maximum number of failing grades a student can receive.

By September -- nine months after her arrival -- Navy officials convened their second progress review board on The Student Pilot's performance.  They were trying to decide -- again -- if the student should be ousted from the training program or allowed to continue.

According to a written summary of the board's findings, The Student Pilot's grades were below average or marginal.  After consideration and much debate, Navy officials decided to give the student another chance.  But it was not to be her last.

Navy officials say it is unusual for a student to have even one such review board, much less three, during their training tenure.  But even more worrisome for many of the flight instructors was The Student Pilot's demeanor toward them.  She did not take criticism well -- and criticism is a key aspect of the instructional program, where students are debriefed following each flight and told what they could and should do differently and better on the next flight.  Instructors said she began to be defensive, or lied about what had occurred on a flight, trying to blame an error on the plane, someone else or the circumstances.  At one point, she became hysterical during a debriefing and began crying that 'everyone was out to get her.'

The Student Pilot also quickly gained a reputation for flirting with the male flight instructors, and many witnessed a crucial incident at a 'winging' ceremony -- an incident which would prove to be the key to The Student Pilot's training experience and one which Navy officials took far more seriously than the other two fraternization incidents mentioned above.

The Student Pilot and a senior flight instructor were drinking together at the bar after a 'winging,' a traditional Navy celebration.  At some point, The Student Pilot plucked the instructor's name tag from his shirt and dropped it down the front of her dress and challenged him to come and get it.

After an aborted attempt to consummate this romantic interlude, the climate changed drastically.  Soon afterward, The Student Pilot approached the squadron scheduling officer and told him that the flight instructor had sexually harassed her.  She said she wasn't sure she should file a complaint because she was worried about finishing her flight training.

The scheduling officer said that he was required to report her comments to his superiors -- and he did so.  The student and instructor were called before the squadron commanding officer, who questioned both of them about their behavior.  It became clear that both the student and the instructor had engaged in fraternization.  However, when The Student Pilot realized that both would be charged with wrongdoing under a fraternization charge, she retracted her statements -- and got an attorney.

The flight instructor also obtained a lawyer, for his own protection.  Navy officials, wary of the unwelcome publicity that a public charge would bring, arranged what was to be a mutually satisfactory agreement -- neither would be charged, the instructor would be transferred and the student could continue flight training.

In fraternization incidents, the U.S. military puts the heaviest blame on the senior partner in the fraternization.  But even taking that into account, the command's treatment of the instructor in the fraternization issue is questionable as compared to The Student Pilot's treatment.  The instructor pilot was grounded during the investigation process, while The Student Pilot continued flying.  The instructor pilot ended up with a non-punitive letter in his file, while the student did not.  The instructor pilot was transferred out, while The Student Pilot remained.  His career was finished.  Her career continued, unblemished.

Soon afterward, The Student Pilot apparently began to feel that flight instructors were hostile toward her or were ostracizing her.  Some flight instructors began to speak openly of their reluctance to fly with her -- saying that she shouldn't be allowed in the air.

Privately, they also worried that any failing grade they might give her would turn into a battle cry -- and lead her to charge them with sexual harassment.  And no one wanted to take a chance on ruining his career by even a groundless complaint from a female student pilot.

Fellow students found themselves bewildered by the way the female student was being treated.  As instructors tried to grade all the students fairly, they began receiving what they felt were conflicting messages from Navy leadership -- to get this female through flight training, no matter what.

As her difficulties with the flight training program continued, the Navy prepared a list of those instructors who could no longer fly with The Student Pilot.  Such a list customarily includes all the flight instructors who have previously given the student a down, or failing grade -- the reasoning is that perhaps they will no longer be objective.

In this case, also included on the list were all those flight instructors who had sat on Progress Review Boards to determine if The Student Pilot should continue flight training.  And one day, as the list sat on the Scheduling Officer's desk, several flight instructors who were angered by the command's leniency with The Student Pilot, apparently added their names to the list as well.

Soon, The Student Pilot was complaining of being blacklisted by the flight instructors -- and the Wing Commander was enraged.  He told flight instructors that if any of them refused to fly with The Student Pilot, they should turn in their wings immediately.

In the aftermath, The Student Pilot asked for and received a transfer from her original squadron to a sister squadron, where Navy officials hoped she would be able to start anew.  She began flying in the new squadron, working diligently but still struggling as she slowly progressed through the flying syllabus.  Nevertheless, she continued to fail to meet the minimum qualification standards.

The Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), who later reviewed The Student Pilot's records during an investigation into her case, decided that she was clearly getting the benefit of the doubt.  "...Upon closer scrutiny, it is evident to me that she performs well when the flight is progressing well, but does very badly when the flight does not proceed as planned or as desired.  The five flights that were graded 'unsatisfactory' have a common denominator: unsafe flight performance related either to lack  of situational awareness or poor headwork," he wrote.  Failure to consistently perform at an acceptable level is the problem in this case and is well documented.  She was, [however], clearly getting the benefit of the doubt," CNATRA added.

By this time, the flight instructors had reached a crisis point.  Concerned about the way her training was progressing and the leniency with which she was being treated, they came forward to their superiors-- and were dismissed.  They gave her failing grades, and the grades were overturned by higher authority.  Finally, some decided to talk to the media about The Student Pilot -- in hopes of shedding some light on the dark dealings of the Navy's commanding officers.

The flight instructors spoke off the record of their concerns and tried to provide a reporter with information to back up their comments.  The reporter, in turn, sought to interview other flight instructors so as to verify the comments and story.  Many Navy officials, including some flight instructors and students, confirmed the story.  Others declined to talk, worried about their careers and the wrath of their commanders.

After gathering information about the case, the reporter attempted to interview The Student Pilot for her side of the story -- and was turned away.  The reporter also attempted to interview Navy leaders about the case -- and they, too, chose not to speak on the record about the case.  They would, however, speak 'off-the-record.'  No one was willing to go public with the details and the frustrated reporter was eventually forced by other circumstances to abandon the story.  After being threatened with a law suit by the Student Pilot, the Reporter's newspaper dropped the story.

Finally, The Student Pilot, who was one of four female students at the base at the time, was attrited from the program -- 20 months after she began.  She appealed the decision twice, but it was finally upheld.  The Wing Commander tried to help her obtain a transfer to another aviation community, but that too was rejected.  The Student Pilot remains in the Navy, but is no longer in naval aviation.

This case has inflamed Navy pilots' worst fears about women-in-combat; that they don't fit in, that they'll get breaks, that they're not as good as their male counterparts and that political pressure will weaken naval aviation -- and thereby diminish readiness and endanger the nation's military pilots.

  There were many transgressions committed during The Student Pilot's training tenure.  A squadron Commanding Officer left under a cloud during her tenure, reprimanded by his commander for failing to maintain discipline and professionalism among his flight instructors.  A Wing Commander who failed to properly handle the fraternization incident resigned (retired).  The second Wing Commander, who tried to repair the damage done and ended up giving The Student Pilot even more chances -- thereby angering the flight instructors even more -- also resigned (retired) after receiving a poor evaluation over his handling of the case.

Even more troubling is the activity that injected terror into the lives of the young male flight instructors who tried to 'do the right thing.'  They were intimidated, threatened with dismissal, and forced to undergo Inspector General investigations or were threatened with such investigations if they did not cooperate with their commanders' desires to 'pass' The Student Pilot, no matter what.  They were forced to seek legal counsel in order to protect themselves from the destructive intimidation invoked by their superiors.  The injection of terror into the lives of these flight instructors is the new dimension of totalitarianism, driven by a political agenda, that is destroying naval aviation.

Meanwhile, brave young 'warriors' are being lost to naval aviation.  Impossible to count are the Navy flight instructor pilots who chose (and are now choosing) to quit naval aviation and are now flying for the commercial airlines -- leaving their much loved profession in disgust over the Navy's handling of this case.  It is their loss that the Navy -- and this nation -- should mourn.

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Dr. Gerald L. Atkinson is the author of the book, "From Trust to Terror: Radical Feminism is Destroying the U.S. Navy."

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