Tammie Jo Shults.
We’ll all be hearing her name for the next 48 hours or so, and we should be. Tammie, the pilot of Southwest flight 1380 scheduled to run from New York to Dallas, saved 148 lives when she calmly piloted her 737 to an emergency landing yesterday. The plane’s left engine had exploded; everyone on board could have died, but for her.
We’ll also be hearing about Tammie’s background, and how her training as one of the Navy’s first female pilots made her especially equipped to handle her situation with poise and flawless execution. She’ll be praised repeatedly for her “nerves of steel”! Not only a hero, a hero with a great back-story!
What the stories might not emphasize enough is her as “one of the Navy’s first” female fighter pilots, and that she was only a few years removed from never having the opportunity to develop the skills that saved almost 150 lives yesterday.
Integration of women into the ranks of female pilots came as late as 1974, when the Navy allowed 6 female, non-combat aviators. The Defense Department didn’t lift the ban on women in combat aviation roles until 1993! Let’s be clear: without the push made in 1974, there would be no Aviator Tammie in 1985.
I have no doubt that among the number of those cheering for Tammie today are those who have turned their noses up at the drive for diversity, that long-simmering debate in our public and private institutions. Hell, I’m sure there were people ON THAT PLANE who have at some point in their lives, gone with the “familiar” option over a qualified woman or minority.
We should all remember Tammie next time our silent inner demon asks “what’s the big deal” when our employer, or school, or golf club pushes for inclusion.
It is evidenced, today, that the very people our prejudices hold back could be the very ones purposed to save us all. They could be heroes.