Trail Blazer Retires:

The Air Force’s first female active duty fighter pilot, Lt. Col. Sharon Preszler, has retired from the service. Preszler, who last served as staff director for the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, N.C., received her commission through ROTC in 1986 and became a navigator. She later became a C-21 pilot, and, in 1993, when the service opened fighters to women pilots, she jumped at the chance. Air Force journalist Tarsha Storey reports that Preszler recalled that the early days were rough, but that most fighter pilots “just cared how she flew.”