PENSACOLA, Fla. — Move over, Tom Cruise: The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels have added a slate of new pilots to their 2023 air show season.
While the branch says hundreds of women have served alongside the Blue Angels over the last 55 years, Lieutenant Amanda Lee will take the reigns as the group's first female F/A-18E/F Super Hornet demonstration pilot.
Lee, a Mounds View, Minnesota native and 2013 Dominion University grad, will join fellow aviators as part of the group's Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106, a.k.a. the "Gladiators."
The F/A-18 is a roughly 16-ton, $67.4 million piece of hardware capable of reaching speeds at just under Mach 2 — or 1,400 mph.
According to the Blue Angels, each air season rakes in an annual 11 million spectators on average.
“We had an overwhelming number of applicants from all over the globe this year,” said Captain Brian Kesselring, the group's commanding officer and flight leader. “We look forward to training our fantastic new team members, passing on the torch, and watching the incredible things this team will accomplish in 2023.”
Following the completion of this season's shows in November, the new pilots will begin what the Navy calls a "rigorous five-month training program" at Florida's Naval Air Station in Pensacola, and a naval facility in El Centro, California — before the 2023 air show season officially kicks off on March 11.
You can learn more about the Blue Angels on their website.
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