The US Navy announced its first Black female fighter pilot in its history

• Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle will become the first Black female tactical fighter pilot in US Navy history, the chief of Naval Air Training announced in a tweet on Thursday.
• Swegle, a native of Virginia, has been stationed at Redhawks of Training Squadron 21 in Kingsville, Texas, according to Stars and Stripes.
• According to January 2019 data, the US Navy is approximately 80% male and 62% white. Black women make up about 5% of the US Navy, according to the data.

The US Navy has its first Black female tactical fighter pilot in its history, according to a Thursday tweet from the Chief of Naval Air Training announcing Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle will receive her "wings of gold" later in July.

"BZ to Lt. j.g. Madeline Swegle on completing the Tactical Air (Strike) aviator syllabus," read the tweet. "Swegle is the @USNavy's first known Black female TACAIR pilot and will receive her Wings of Gold later this month. HOOYAH!"

Swegle is a native of Burke, Virginia, and graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2017, Stars and Stripes first reported. She is assigned to the Redhawks of Training Squadron 21 in Kingsville, Texas, according to the report.

Swegle will earn her wings at a ceremony on July 31, The Navy Times reported. The US Navy shared the news, tweeting "MAKING HISTORY!"

—U.S. Navy (@USNavy) July 9, 2020

"Very proud of LTJG Swegle. Go forth and kick butt," Paula Dunn, Navy's vice chief of information, tweeted Thursday.

Others, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, also congratulated Swegle.

"You make the @USNavy and our country stronger," Warren said.

—Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 11, 2020

—Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) July 10, 2020

According to January 2019 data, the US Navy is approximately 80% male and 62% white. Black women make up about 5% of the US Navy, according to the data.

As Stars and Stripes reported, Brenda E. Robinson became the first Black female pilot in the Navy, earning her wings on June 6, 1980. Arizona Sen. Martha McSally, who retired from the Air Force in 2010, was the first woman to fly in combat the US military while serving in the Air Force in January 1995. She became the first woman to command a fighter squadron in 2004, according to the US Air Force.

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