18 Feb 2000
RAAF WOMEN GRADUATE TO FAST JETS
The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Scott, said today two women had completed an intensive training course to become the first female officers in the Royal Australian Air Force to graduate to fast jets.
Flying Officer Brooke Chivers and Pilot Officer Aroha Fifield have earned their brevets as navigators in the RAAF's frontline F-111 squadrons at the Amberley base near Ipswich in south-east Queensland.
http://www.defence.gov.au/minister/Scotttpl.cfm?CurrentId=275Mrs Elizabeth Monica Anderson -
(Formerly Preston & Spence)
In 1979, I was the first woman of the RAAF to be posted to No 6 Squadron. I was an admin clerk in the HQ. On 1st August 1980, I was the first RAAF Airwoman to ever fly in an RAAF F-111, it was actually an RF-111C (A8-143 to be precise and Fltlt Thoroughgood was my pilot).
The sortie was 1 and one half hours long and we flew down to the Gold Coast, went Mach 2.2 20 miles out to sea then flew back in over Evans Head Bombing Range for a low-level TFR and then home by skirting the Rosewood area, all the while me inputting the map co-ords and navigating via the cockpit camera screen. CO at the time was Wing Commander Peter (Pidge) Hackett.
First CO was Wing Commander Dave Rogers. I returned to 82 Wing HQ to serve under the then Group Captain Pete Chris. I was at 6SQN when Plt off Fallon pitched in and he was the youngest ever F111 pilot graduate.
Brook Chivers (left) and Aroha Fifield (right)
http://www.f-111.net/troops.htm