Capt. Rosemary Mariner was one of the first women to enter Navy pilot training and to earn her “wings of gold” in 1974. Her mother was a World War II Navy nurse and her father a member of the U.S. Army air corps, Mariner graduated from Purdue University in 1972 wanting to serve. She was the first woman to graduate from the aeronautical program, where she earned a degree in aviation technology before joining the Navy in 1973. She went on to become one of the first Navy jet pilots, flying both the Douglas A-4C and the LTV A7E; and became the first woman to command an operational squadron, leading VAQ-34 during Operation Desert Storm. She retired from the Navy in 1997 after 24 years of service. Mariner died in 2019 from cancer, and her funeral featured the first known all-[Wo]man pilot flyover who performed a Missing [Wo]Man Flyover in her honor.

Last Updated: 29 March 2023