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WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. - For Capt. Nicola Polidor, 393rd
Bomb Squadron training flight commander, and Capt. Jennie
Swiechowicz, 393rd BS B-2 pilot, their dreams of flying started at a
young age.
“I always wanted to be an astronaut,” Polidor
said. “It was my childhood dream, and I knew I wanted to fly Air
Force planes on the way to doing that.”
Swiechowicz agrees,
saying it looked exciting to her. “The planes looked like a
never-ending roller coaster,” Swiechowicz said.
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Captains Jennie Sweichowicz and Nicola Polidor, both 393rd Bomb Squadron B-2 Spirit pilots, are part of an elite group at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., April 23, 2013. Polidor and Sweichowicz
both dreamed of flying while growing up. (U.S. Air Force photo by
Airman 1st Class Shelby R. Orozco)
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Both pilots started their careers flying other aircraft
before transitioning to the B-2 Spirit here at Whiteman Air
Force Base.
“When I graduated pilot training, I was
assigned the B-52
Stratofortress,” Polidor said. “It has a very similar
mission to the B-2; it's a heavy, long-range bomber that
does both nuclear and conventional missions, just like the
B-2. It seemed like a logical progression in my career.”
Swiechowicz started her career as pilot for an E-3
Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWACS) Sentry.
“Although I loved working with the AWACS crew and having 200
to 300 people in the squadron, I was looking for a
challenge,” Swiechowicz said. “The B-2 is the only airplane
of its kind in the world, so the B-2 was that challenge.”
Being female in a mainly male-dominated Air Force has
not affected the two pilots; rather, they have viewed the
demographic difference as a way to grow within their
careers.
“I've always noticed that the population of
women was small,” Polidor said. “I was one of two or three
females in my pilot training class of 40. I'm aware of my
surroundings, but I have no problems working with males.
They're great at their jobs and are a pleasure to work
with.”
Swiechowicz adds that the three different
aircraft communities -- heavies, fighters and bombers—all
have different demographic characteristics and relationship
balances.
“I've been in all three for a little bit at
a time,” Swiechowicz said. “Women have been around longer in
the heavy community so they aren't so much of a rarity;
there's no setback just for being a female.”
Being a
B-2 pilot offers unique opportunities, said Swiechowicz.
“My office changes every day,” Swiechowicz said. “I can be
behind a desk doing paperwork and then I can go out and fly
and see something different. Whether it's the jet I'm flying
that day or the person I am talking to on the radio, it's
always changing.”
Both women have plenty of advice to
officer to young airmen looking to become a pilot.
“There are a lot of different options to become a pilot,”
Polidor said. “You can go to the Air Force Academy, you can
go through ROTC, you could even be enlisted and work towards
your bachelor's degree and then go to Officer Training
School. It takes a lot of hard work; you need the desire and
the drive to fly. I think drive and the love for flying are
necessities to make it as a pilot in the long haul.”
The captains also have much to offer airmen looking to excel
in any military career, flying or not.
“You just have
to work hard and know your regulations inside and out,
especially when it comes to your job,” Swiechowicz said.
“Don't expect any advances just because you're a woman, or
because you went to college, or something like that. Strive
to always know the right answer. Stick to your guns.”
Along with knowing their jobs airmen have to be
well-rounded, said Polidor.
“There are so many
different facets of working in the military,” Polidor said.
“You need a combination of leadership and inspiration; you
have to be able to answer, ‘What are we really here for?' I
think if you focus solely on flying, then you lose out on
the rest of what being in the military means. It really
works out for you if you have a combination of all of those
assets.”
Outside of being pilots, both captains are
married to military members, a relationship they both agree
is special.
“My husband is also a pilot, and ever
since the Air Force Academy we've been able to go home at
the end of the day and relate on every minute detail of our
days, whereas I don't think many other relationships are
able to do [that],” said Polidor. “It's nice having someone
I can talk to on a detailed level.”
Even though the
women share a special bond with their military husbands, the
joint-spouse relationship presents its share of
difficulties.
“The hardest thing for me right now is
wanting to have a family,” Swiechowicz said. “We're both
flying planes that theoretically will never be on the same
base. That's our biggest challenge right now. We have to
make decisions like who stays in, does someone get out, or
do we both stay in and try to raise kids where somebody
lives hours away? We only see each other about once a month.
It's a challenge.”
At the end of the day, the pilots
are pleased to be working pieces of one of the Air Force's
best aircraft.
“If anything happens in the world, the
B-2 is going to be involved,” Polidor said. “We are very
much involved in current operations throughout the world,
which is very exciting and it's nice to be a part of that.”
By USAF Airman 1st Class Shelby R. Orozco
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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