Michelle 'Mace' Curran

So yeah, at that first assignment, there were four of us at that entire base, which had over probably about 100 F-16 pilots and there were four women. In the Air Force in general, about 2% to 3% at any given time of fighter pilots are women. So it's extremely small in the entire force. Initially, I think I viewed it as a weakness.

And that was part of that disconnect of not feeling like I could be my true self at work. And I had to fit into this culture that I didn't naturally align with. And I had something to prove. I always felt like I was under a microscope. And honestly, that never went away because I was.

And that was part of that disconnect of not feeling like I could be my true self at work. And I had to fit into this culture that I didn't naturally align with. And I had something to prove. I always felt like I was under a microscope. And honestly, that never went away because I was.

And that was part of that disconnect of not feeling like I could be my true self at work. And I had to fit into this culture that I didn't naturally align with. And I had something to prove. I always felt like I was under a microscope. And honestly, that never went away because I was.

You have the people that rally around you and are so inspired by you, especially once I was in the visible role of being on the Thunderbirds. But then I also had the people that were just watching like a hawk waiting for me to fail. And I was acutely aware that they were there.

You have the people that rally around you and are so inspired by you, especially once I was in the visible role of being on the Thunderbirds. But then I also had the people that were just watching like a hawk waiting for me to fail. And I was acutely aware that they were there.

You have the people that rally around you and are so inspired by you, especially once I was in the visible role of being on the Thunderbirds. But then I also had the people that were just watching like a hawk waiting for me to fail. And I was acutely aware that they were there.

But as I got to the point where I applied to be a Thunderbird pilot, I saw it as a strength because this isn't a combat squadron. It's not the same mission set as the other units. The mission of the Thunderbirds is to recruit, obviously, but also to inspire people, inspire people that might never join the military, just inspire people in general.

But as I got to the point where I applied to be a Thunderbird pilot, I saw it as a strength because this isn't a combat squadron. It's not the same mission set as the other units. The mission of the Thunderbirds is to recruit, obviously, but also to inspire people, inspire people that might never join the military, just inspire people in general.

But as I got to the point where I applied to be a Thunderbird pilot, I saw it as a strength because this isn't a combat squadron. It's not the same mission set as the other units. The mission of the Thunderbirds is to recruit, obviously, but also to inspire people, inspire people that might never join the military, just inspire people in general.

And to step into that role, there hadn't been another female pilot on the team for five years at that point. I was the fourth one to come on to fly in the demo in the teams. It'll be 70 years since the team's been around next year. So the first one was in 2005 and there had been a five-year gap. And so I saw my gender in that role.

And to step into that role, there hadn't been another female pilot on the team for five years at that point. I was the fourth one to come on to fly in the demo in the teams. It'll be 70 years since the team's been around next year. So the first one was in 2005 and there had been a five-year gap. And so I saw my gender in that role.

And to step into that role, there hadn't been another female pilot on the team for five years at that point. I was the fourth one to come on to fly in the demo in the teams. It'll be 70 years since the team's been around next year. So the first one was in 2005 and there had been a five-year gap. And so I saw my gender in that role.

And when your mission is to inspire and every single demo pilot is a white male, Being a woman is a strength. And there were no lowered standards. My flying had to be as good as everyone else's because it's very small margins for air and with high repercussions, obviously. But the other part of the mission, I could reach people that they could never reach. And I became very aware of that.

And when your mission is to inspire and every single demo pilot is a white male, Being a woman is a strength. And there were no lowered standards. My flying had to be as good as everyone else's because it's very small margins for air and with high repercussions, obviously. But the other part of the mission, I could reach people that they could never reach. And I became very aware of that.

And when your mission is to inspire and every single demo pilot is a white male, Being a woman is a strength. And there were no lowered standards. My flying had to be as good as everyone else's because it's very small margins for air and with high repercussions, obviously. But the other part of the mission, I could reach people that they could never reach. And I became very aware of that.

And I tried to use that as much as possible to reach as many people as I could in that three years that I was in that role.

And I tried to use that as much as possible to reach as many people as I could in that three years that I was in that role.

And I tried to use that as much as possible to reach as many people as I could in that three years that I was in that role.

For people who don't understand, haven't been to one of your shows, because I'm visualizing, you know, the planes stacked on top of each other and one's upside down. But for people who haven't seen it, can you just explain a little bit about what really goes on, what you guys were doing?