Devil's Cut | In Conversation With Nicole Malachowski
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Who is Nicole Malachowski?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Truth in the Barrel. I'm Amy McGrath with my co-host, Denver Riggleman. And today we have the devil's cut episode with a very, very special guest, Nicole Malachowski, the first woman Thunderbird pilot in the United States Air Force, among many other amazing things she's done. I cannot wait to talk with her.
What is the significance of DOD's white history?
Well, good morning, everybody. Thanks so much for having me. It's a joy to be here.
What does malicious compliance mean in military context?
Good morning. We're so happy to see you.
How does history influence current military policies?
Happy to see you too. Well, we have a lot to talk about today. And then first of all, Nicole, it's just an honor to get to meet you and talk with you. I've known about you and seen you for many, many years as somebody who was a woman in the armed forces. It's just wonderful to get a chance to get to know you a little bit more. Thank you.
Well, the same right back to you. I've been obviously following your career and I think our military careers were indeed were very parallel.
They were. And of course, you have a lot in common with Denver, who also was in the Air Force for many years. Indeed. Yeah. I can't wait to talk to you about Seymour Johnson, too. That was our sister wing from Mountain Home Air Force Base when we were the air expeditionary ring. But I'm I think I'm older. I'm much older, I think, Nicole.
So I don't know about I don't know about much older Denver.
Well, before we jump into it, I do want to tell our listeners a little bit about you, Nicole, because, and I'm not going to go through the whole bio, but I want to let everybody know something about being in the military. For those of us that have been in the military, we sort of read bios and we look at them and we can tell almost immediately, is this person the real deal or not? And I have to tell you, reading your bio, it is just incredible. Like my head exploded. You know, I was like, wow, this person is no kidding the real deal. Top in her class at the Air Force Academy, flew not only F-15s, but also F-16s. And for those of you who aren't fighter pilots, that's kind of a big deal to fly two different types of aircraft.
of fighter planes, and then to go on in your career to be a commander, to be a White House fellow, to be at the top of your class at the Naval War College. I mean, it is just incredible. And all of those things, I have to ask, because you have flown both the F-15 and the F-16, which at the time that you flew them were the best that the Air Force had. in terms of fighter planes, right? They were. They definitely were at the time. Which one was better?
Which one did you like to fly better? I get asked this question a lot and it's a totally reasonable question. I often say it's a little bit like apples and oranges though because the F-15E Strike Eagle is the jet I began my career in. That's the jet that I flew operationally. I led my peers in combat in that jet. It's always going to be, if you will, my first love The F-16 itself was certainly a heck of a lot of fun to fly, but I only flew that during the air show season with the Thunderbirds. So I never really knew how to fly the F-16 as a complete weapon system. So at the end of the day, I'm always going to say the F-15E Strike Eagle. Also, you know, my husband was a weapons systems officer, so if I hadn't flown Strike Eagles, I wouldn't have met him.
That is awesome. Did you meet your husband when he was a WIZO, when you guys were in training or something like that?
That's a funny story, actually. Yes, indeed. We met in my very first fighter squadron, which was at the 492nd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lake and Heath out there in the United Kingdom. And as I was going through combat mission ready, this is when I met him, I flew one I flew one sortie with him. He was a brand new instructor and this was well before we started dating, but it's kind of funny because I remember looking at his last name and I couldn't pronounce it. I'm like Malachowski, Malachowski. And I used to make fun of his last name. Little did I know I would take that name and I've been living with it for 24 years as Malachowski.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Nicole Malachowski?
0:04–0:30
2
What is the significance of DOD's white history?
0:30–0:34
3
What does malicious compliance mean in military context?
0:34–0:37
4
How does the VA handle tick-borne diseases?
0:37
5
What challenges do women face in the military?
0:34
6
How did Nicole Malachowski become a trailblazer?
0:34–0:37
7
What are the implications of DEI policies in the military?
0:37
8
How does history influence current military policies?
0:37–43:02