{"id":24900328,"date":"2026-09-26T17:27:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/nicole-malachowski-first-woman-thunderbirds-pilot-f-15e\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T17:28:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:28:06","slug":"nicole-malachowski-first-woman-thunderbirds-pilot-f-15e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/nicole-malachowski-first-woman-thunderbirds-pilot-f-15e\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicole Malachowski: The First Woman to Fly With the Thunderbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Nicole Malachowski was five years old when she watched military jets at an air show and decided that was what she would do with her life. It was a perfectly reasonable ambition, except for one detail nobody mentioned to her at the time. The United States did not allow women to fly combat aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She became a fighter pilot anyway, then the first woman ever to fly with the Air Force Thunderbirds, then a squadron commander. And then an illness nobody could name took almost all of it away, and she spent the years after that making sure it would happen to fewer people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She turns 52 today. This is the whole flight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:15px 20px;margin:20px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:700\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Born:<\/strong> 26 September 1974, Santa Maria, California; grew up in Las Vegas<\/li><li><strong>Air Force Academy:<\/strong> Entered 1992, graduated fourth in the class of 1996<\/li><li><strong>Fighter:<\/strong> F-15E Strike Eagle; more than 188 combat hours; 26 combat missions over Iraq in 2005<\/li><li><strong>Thunderbirds:<\/strong> First woman selected, June 2005; Thunderbird 3, Right Wing, callsign FiFi; 2006 and 2007 seasons<\/li><li><strong>Command:<\/strong> 333rd Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, 2011 to 2013<\/li><li><strong>Illness:<\/strong> 1,525 days from first doctor visit to diagnosis; five tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease<\/li><li><strong>Retired:<\/strong> Medically retired as a colonel in 2017 after 21 years<\/li><li><strong>Honours:<\/strong> National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame, 2019<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Rule She Grew Up Against<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>By the time she was old enough to apply, women could fly in the Air Force &mdash; transports, tankers, trainers. The combat cockpit was closed. She entered the Air Force Academy in 1992 with no guarantee that would ever change, and flew and instructed on the TG-4 glider while she waited to find out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>A year later it did change: in 1993 the ban on women flying combat aircraft was lifted. She graduated fourth in the class of 1996, finished pilot training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, and went straight to the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-15e-strike-eagle\/\">F-15E Strike Eagle<\/a> at Seymour Johnson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>What followed was an entirely normal, entirely demanding fighter career. Two tours with the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath in England, where she also met her husband, Paul, an F-15E weapon systems officer. A year in South Korea as an air liaison officer with the Army\u2019s 2nd Infantry Division. And in early 2005, four months deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom: 26 combat missions, part of more than 188 combat hours overall.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The mission she has called her proudest came during that deployment. She led the first fighter formation to provide security for Iraq\u2019s historic democratic elections in 2005.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 auto 24px;width:100%;max-width:520px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/nicole-malachowski-f-15e-raf-lakenheath-2005.jpg\" alt=\"Capt. Nicole Malachowski in front of an F-15E Strike Eagle at RAF Lakenheath in June 2005\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Capt. Nicole Malachowski at RAF Lakenheath in June 2005, the month she was selected for the Thunderbirds. US Air Force photo \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Application She Withdrew<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The Thunderbirds had never had a woman in the cockpit, and the first time Malachowski tried to change that, she did not get as far as being turned down. She started an application, took the measure of the reaction around her, and pulled it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #c62828;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;I removed that application and said, \u2018You\u2019re right, I\u2019m so sorry for bothering you.\u2019&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Nicole Malachowski<\/strong> &mdash; On her first attempt to apply to the Thunderbirds<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>It is worth sitting with that sentence, because it is the exact mechanism by which barriers survive after the rules change. Nobody had to say no. She was made to feel she should not ask.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She asked again. In June 2005 the Air Force announced that she had been selected for the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the first woman ever to fly with the team. She converted to the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\/\">F-16<\/a> at Luke Air Force Base and joined the squadron at Nellis in November 2005.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>For the 2006 and 2007 seasons she flew Thunderbird 3, the right wing of the diamond, under the callsign FiFi &mdash; roughly 140 performances in total. In the tightest formations the jets fly with as little as 18 inches between fuselage and canopy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 auto 24px;width:100%;max-width:520px\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/nicole-malachowski-thunderbird-3-right-wing.jpg\" alt=\"Maj. Nicole Malachowski in her Thunderbirds flight suit as Thunderbird 3, Right Wing\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Maj. Nicole Malachowski as Thunderbird 3, Right Wing. US Air Force photo \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ABjUN1wK8rA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">1,525 Days<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>After the Thunderbirds came a White House Fellowship and then the job she has called her highest honour: command of the 333rd Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson, an F-15E training squadron. Over her time there it trained more than 200 students to fly the Strike Eagle.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In 2012, while she was in command, she got sick. It started with intractable pain, severe fatigue and trouble thinking and speaking, and over the following years it got worse: disorientation, confusion, anxiety, episodes of temporary paralysis. She and her husband eventually catalogued 63 separate symptoms. At her lowest she was bedridden, needed home health care, and could not speak.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The chances to catch it early came and went. In 2012, according to her account to Military Times, a flight surgeon dismissed a bull\u2019s-eye rash on her hip on the grounds that there was no Lyme disease in North Carolina. In 2013, after an engorged tick was found on her leg, a doctor advised waiting to see whether a rash developed rather than testing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She told a federal working group on tick-borne disease in December 2017 exactly how long it had taken.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;It would be 1,525 days between my first doctors visit, and my accurate diagnosis. Often, I was told I was just suffering from stress. I felt patronized, discounted, and dismissed.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Nicole Malachowski<\/strong> &mdash; Testimony to the HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, 11 December 2017<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In that period she saw more than twenty doctors, military and civilian, across eight specialties, and received three misdiagnoses. When the answer finally came in 2016 it was not one tick-borne illness but five, including Lyme disease. Treatment at specialist centres in Boston eventually gave her back the ability to stand, to read and to speak. It did not give her back her flying career. At the same hearing she noted that in eighteen days she would be permanently, medically retired. She left the Air Force as a colonel after 21 years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Mission After<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>What she did next is the reason she is in the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame and not only in the Thunderbirds\u2019 history books.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She became an advocate for tick-borne illness patients, and pushed the military to take the threat seriously. The result was the first tick-borne illness prevention programme deployed across the Air National Guard: more than 100,000 Guardsmen briefed, with more than 100 doctors and over 1,000 medical technicians involved, and an expected minimum of 30 cases prevented every year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #2e7d32;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;I think I may have finally made a difference.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Nicole Malachowski<\/strong> &mdash; Speaking to Military Times, 2025<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/nicole-malachowski-speaking-tulsa-ang-2023.jpg\" alt=\"Retired Col. Nicole Malachowski speaking at the Tulsa Air National Guard Base in 2023\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Retired Col. Nicole Malachowski speaking at the Tulsa Air National Guard Base in 2023. US Air National Guard photo \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She was inducted into the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame in 2019. Earlier, in 2010, she had spoken at the Capitol ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots of the Second World War, on behalf of all 1,102 of them &mdash; with a broken leg, from a wheelchair. In March 2025 her biography briefly disappeared from Air Force websites as part of the removal of diversity-related content; it was restored the following month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>She has said the Thunderbirds taught her that nothing of significance is ever accomplished alone. The five-year-old at the air show would not have known what that meant yet. Happy birthday, FiFi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P28_KptizpU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"display:flex;flex-direction:column;align-items:center;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DdwPZ6UGy4m\/embed\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;background:#fff\"><\/iframe><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The birthday post that brought her story back into circulation this week.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:28px\">Sources: Nicole Malachowski, testimony to the HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, 11 December 2017; Military Times, <em>Former Thunderbirds pilot takes on disease that grounded her career<\/em>, 2025; Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs; National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame; Wikipedia and Wikiquote entries for Nicole Malachowski; American Veterans Center<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Who was the first woman to fly with the Thunderbirds?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Nicole Malachowski. The US Air Force announced her selection in June 2005, and she flew with the Thunderbirds for the 2006 and 2007 seasons as Thunderbird 3, the right wing of the diamond formation, under the callsign FiFi. She flew roughly 140 performances.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What aircraft did Nicole Malachowski fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Nicole Malachowski was an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot for most of her career, flying more than 188 combat hours including 26 combat missions over Iraq in 2005. She converted to the F-16 for the Thunderbirds and flew gliders as a cadet instructor at the Air Force Academy. She logged more than 2,300 flying hours in total.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What illness ended Nicole Malachowski\u2019s flying career?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Tick-borne illness. Symptoms began in 2012 while she commanded the 333rd Fighter Squadron, and she was eventually diagnosed in 2016 with five tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease. The neurological damage left her unfit for duty, and she was medically retired as a colonel in 2017 after 21 years of service.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How long did it take to diagnose Nicole Malachowski?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">She told a federal working group in December 2017 that it was 1,525 days between her first doctor visit and an accurate diagnosis. She saw more than twenty doctors across eight specialties and received three misdiagnoses, and said she was often told she was just suffering from stress.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What did Nicole Malachowski do in the Iraq War?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">In early 2005 she deployed for four months in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and flew 26 combat missions in the F-15E. The mission she has called her proudest was leading the first fighter formation to provide security for Iraq\u2019s historic democratic elections in 2005.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What has Nicole Malachowski done since retiring?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">She became an advocate for tick-borne illness patients. Her work helped establish the first tick-borne illness prevention programme across the Air National Guard, briefing more than 100,000 Guardsmen. She was inducted into the National Women\u2019s Hall of Fame in 2019 and works as a speaker on leadership and resilience.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When was the ban on women flying US combat aircraft lifted?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">In 1993. Nicole Malachowski had entered the Air Force Academy in 1992, when women could fly transports, tankers and trainers but not combat aircraft. The ban was lifted the following year, and she graduated in 1996 and went on to fly the F-15E Strike Eagle.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was the first woman to fly with the Thunderbirds?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Nicole Malachowski. The US Air Force announced her selection in June 2005, and she flew with the Thunderbirds for the 2006 and 2007 seasons as Thunderbird 3, the right wing of the diamond formation, under the callsign FiFi. She flew roughly 140 performances.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What aircraft did Nicole Malachowski fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Nicole Malachowski was an F-15E Strike Eagle pilot for most of her career, flying more than 188 combat hours including 26 combat missions over Iraq in 2005. She converted to the F-16 for the Thunderbirds and flew gliders as a cadet instructor at the Air Force Academy. She logged more than 2,300 flying hours in total.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What illness ended Nicole Malachowski\u2019s flying career?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Tick-borne illness. Symptoms began in 2012 while she commanded the 333rd Fighter Squadron, and she was eventually diagnosed in 2016 with five tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease. The neurological damage left her unfit for duty, and she was medically retired as a colonel in 2017 after 21 years of service.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How long did it take to diagnose Nicole Malachowski?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"She told a federal working group in December 2017 that it was 1,525 days between her first doctor visit and an accurate diagnosis. 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The ban was lifted the following year, and she graduated in 1996 and went on to fly the F-15E Strike Eagle.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kim-campbell-killer-chick-a-10-baghdad-2003\/\">Kim Campbell: Killer Chick and the A-10 That Flew Home From Baghdad<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/marga-von-etzdorf-first-female-airline-pilot-1933\/\">Marga von Etzdorf: The First Female Airline Pilot<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/thunderbirds-1982-diamond-crash-indian-springs-t-38\/\">The 1982 Thunderbirds Diamond Crash at Indian Springs<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>She flew F-15Es over Iraq, became Thunderbird 3, and commanded a fighter squadron. Then an illness went undiagnosed for 1,525 days. Nicole Malachowski turns 52 today.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":24899568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24900328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nicole Malachowski: First Woman Thunderbird Pilot | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nicole Malachowski flew F-15Es over Iraq and became the first woman Thunderbird. Then a tick-borne illness went undiagnosed for 1,525 days. 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