Denmark opened the door for women to become fighter pilots in the early 1990s, but, so far, it has had only one woman graduate from its three-year preliminary pilot screening program. That woman—2nd Lt. Line Bonde—now is completing the Euro-Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard AFB, Tex. She’s not through with training yet, though. Back in Denmark she still has to spend a year in an F-16 training squadron before she can hope to move to an operational squadron.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…