Lesson 187:
Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell
An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted on 05/16/2025
Prelude | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | Email |
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An ongoing illustrative history study
This piece originally posted on 05/16/2025
Prelude | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | Email |
|---|
"I decided to focus on something I could do every day versus maybe going to the moon one time... which would be awesome, but it's just one time. So I started to looking at the jets and flying fighters."
Back to my ongoing mini-study-within-a-study of Black heroes of the U.S. Armed Forces, whose biographies that somehow just don't seem to be popping up on the usual .mil and .gov websites any more. Today we celebrate the achievements of Lt. Col Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell, the first-ever Black fighter pilot in the history of the U.S. Air Force.
Born in 1976 Indiana, Shawna Ng A Qui made the decision to become a pilot early (as so many pilots seem to do!); in her case at the age of nine. She took her first flight lesson at the age of fourteen, joined the Civil Air Patrol, earned a private pilot's license. She received her commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy, graduating in 1998 with a BS in Engineering, and from there attended the famed Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB. She earned her pilot's wings a year later and then moved on to Fighter Fundamentals at Randolph AFB, and finally attained operational proficiency on the F-16 fighter jet in 2000 --making her the first-ever Black woman fighter pilot in that branch of service.
Kimbrell's first deployment was to the 13th Fighter Squadron in Misawa, Japan (2001 - 2003); where she served as an F-16 fighter pilot. During that time she flew missions in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, in support of Operation Northern and Southern Watch. While in Operation Northern Watch, Kimbrell notched another milestone as the first Black woman to fly in a combat mission for the 35th Fighter Wing, and to employ ordnance in combat. Between 2004 and 2007 while deployed to Iraq, took over as the 2nd Brigade Air Liaison Officer (Operation Iraqi Freedom). After that tour, she was reassigned to the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base in Italy where she served as Aircrew Flight Equipment Flight Commander, and then as Assistant Director of Operations for the 555th Fighter Squadron. She then became an instructor and course manager for the Air Liaison Officer Qualification Course with the 6th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis AFB (Nevada).
Lt. Col. Kimbrell has since retired from active duty (effective 2013) and is now in the Air Force Reserves; she is currently a member of the 78th Attack Squadron and serves as an MQ-9 pilot and Mission Commander at Creech AFB (Nevada). Lt. Col. Kimbrell has logged over 2,100 flight hours and has been awarded numerous awards throughout her career, to include five Aerial Achievement Medals, two Air Force Commendations Medals and the National Defense Service Medal.
"I literally see the lights turn on in kids' eyes when I talk to them when they realize that someone like me can go do something as cool as being a fighter pilot."
Consult the Wayback Machine for a more in-depth biography that once featured on DoDLive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180702233240/http://www.dodlive.mil/2012/02/23/first-black-female-fighter-pilot-follows-childhood-dream/
Next lesson - Lesson 188: Patricia White