In the latest step of an impressive career, U.S. Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt has become the first female to be named as a Wing Commander in Air Force history. She will take command of the 4th Combat Fighter Wing located at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
Leavitt had already made a name for herself in the record books back in 1993 when she became the Air Force’s first female fighter pilot.
When Defense secretary Lew Aspin gave the order that all military branches were to drop restrictions on females being able to fly combat missions, Leavitt took advantage of the opportunity. Maintaining high scores in her undergraduate classes helped to earn her the position.
She later became the first graduate of the elite Air Force Weapons School. Upon graduation, she also become an instructor at the school.
Col. Leavitt just completed a one-year stint in a special assignment position where she was an Air Force fellow working with the Central Intelligence Agency. Her previous assignments include fighter squadron commander and deputy commander of an operations group located at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
Leavitt began her career back in 1992 in ROTC with a degree in aeronautical engineering. She has since amassed a total of four master’s degrees. She is married to another Air Force colonel and has two children.
