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.
The U.S. supports “a stronger and more capable” European defense, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said during an Oct. 22 press conference in Brussels—but that defense should not duplicate the functions and capabilities of the NATO alliance.