Maj. Shawna Rochelle Kimbrell is the United States Air Force’s first Black fighter pilot, realizing a dream she’s been focused on since she was a little girl. Major Kimbrell knew when she was in the fourth grade that she wanted to be amongst the world’s most elite fighters initially considering becoming an astronaut, but then concluding that a fighter jet would be more her speed.
Major Kimbrell was born April 20th, 1976 to Guyanese parents that came to the United States to pursue education and greater opportunity. Her father excelled at Howard University and later earned a doctorate at Purdue University. That same drive was instilled into Major Kimbrell and her three older siblings.
Growing up in the small town of Parker, Colorado, Kimbrell said people tried to tell her she’d never make it as a fighter pilot, but she was far too determined to listen. In Kimbrell graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1998. She underwent pilot training and earned her wings in 1999 from Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.
The following year, she entered a combat training program, graduating from F-16 fighter jet training soon after. In 2001, she broke the color and gender barrier in the Air Force by serving as a combat pilot for the Operation Northern and Southern Watch in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. She was also the first woman, period, to fly for the Misawa Air Base’s 35th Fighter Wing.
Kimbrell faced several challenges in her field – even the uniforms presented a challenge as they were essentially made only for men. Of course racial and gender discrimination played a role as well. In a 2008 interview, she discussed the obstacles she faced along the way.
“There are still a lot of unresolved racial issues in the U.S. and they spill over into every walk of life and every workspace,” said Major Kimbrell on the USAFE website. “When I go somewhere new, people tend to look at me differently, mostly because of who I am and it is the subtle ways that people treat me differently that make it challenging. The unfortunate fact is that being a Black woman is a constant struggle.”
When she’s not on active duty, Major Kimbrell spends time going to schools around the country to talk about her path to aviation and the importance of education.
