Today, only slightly more than 5% of LaRivee’s job area is occupied by women, compared to her mother’s rarity as a female cadet in 1976
According to Senior Airman Sam Salopek of the 349th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs in the article Female pilot follows in mother’s boot steps, Capt. Jamie LaRivee, a C-17 Globemaster III pilot with the 21st Airlift Squadron (AS) at Travis Air Force Base (AFB), saw her mother as a role model and watched her succeed in an Air Force career.
“She was in the first class of women at the Air Force Academy,” said LaRivee. “That was a big piece of her life that shaped her completely, but it was also a big piece of my life too.”
After completing high school, LaRivee followed in her mother’s footsteps and enrolled at the Air Force Academy, where she majored in operations research and minored in German. Today, only slightly more than 5% of LaRivee’s job area is occupied by women, compared to her mother’s rarity as a female cadet in 1976.
“Not every little girl grows up dreaming to be a pilot,” LaRivee said. “It’s not a common perception for women to be in flying in general, let alone for women to be in the military.”
She had the chance to fly gliders while at the academy. She remembered how it seemed like she was driving her own thrilling roller coaster. She was determined to succeed as an aviator after that.
“There are still biases out there, and sometimes there are people who make assumptions,” LaRivee pointed out. “They’re not so sure you can be as qualified as a male pilot, but that just makes you want to work even harder to show you’re just as capable.”
“In aviation, it doesn’t matter if you’re male or female- you’re a flyer,” explained Barbara Brewer, the 21st AS unit program coordinator. “Your gender doesn’t change that ability.”
“My mother faced a lot more challenges and a lot more barriers,” added LaRivee. “There were not as many women who had gone before her to pave the way to prove that women were just as capable as men if they worked hard at it.”
LaRivee considers her gender to be a proud aspect of who she is. She is conscious of the challenges being a female soldier presents, though, and she embraces them as a chance to perform above and beyond expectations.
“You can’t pretend that we are built the exact same way as men. But, there are so many ways that we can, if not overcome it, become better,” LaRivee said.
Throughout a military career, challenges can arise that put one’s self-assurance to the test. LaRivee was a member of a crew that was mainly made up of women while flying a mission. She recalls that a passenger who was surprised that he had been unable to distinguish between men and women piloting the aircraft peered into the flight deck. This remark did not cause LaRivee to doubt her abilities as a woman, but rather it increased her self-assurance in her abilities.
“If you face challenges, don’t let them get you down, let them inspire you to do better,” LaRivee said. “There are so many women in aviation who have done amazing things, and there have always been people who doubted them.”
It’s noteworthy that LaRivee’s mother made a speech in 1996 that emphasized the value of women in the military.
“One of the biggest challenges of being a woman in the military has and will continue to be balancing strength with sensitivity, confidence with humility,” said retired Lt. Col. Marianne LaRivee, in a speech for the Senior Executives Symposium Spouses Program. “We want to show that we can do our jobs well while also staying true to ourselves as women-daughters, sisters, and mothers. That we can do what our country asks of us while also living up to the cultural expectations and responsibilities of our gender.”
Source: As reported on top of the original story, this feature is part of the “Through Airmen’s Eyes” series. These stories focus on individual Airmen, highlighting their Air Force stories.
Photo by Senior Airman Sam Salopek and Heide Couch / U.S. Air Force