By Ar tNalls
I
magi ne as a paren t, you r ch ild fin ally
gets the ir dr iv er’ s li cens e an d as ks to
take the fam ily cr uis er ou t fo r a spi n
with som e fri ends, for the first time. Are
you ne rvou s? Maybejus t a bit.
Th en, ima gi ne that the fam ily cru is -
er is the Wor ld ’s Only Civ il ian Harri er
Jump -Je t, it onl y has on e seat, an d the
spin aro und the bloc k will eas ily use a
cou ple hundr ed gall ons of jet fuel, and is
wide ly co nsid er ed one of th e mo st-dif fi -
cult airpl anes to hand le safel y. Are you
nerv ous, no w?
Wel l, no t to wor ry if the pers on you
gav eth ekeys toju st hap pen sto beon eof
the “ba dde st” Ma rine Corpspilots
aro un d. Sh e’ s got abo ut 1, 000 hours in
Har rie rs, an d was the firs t femaleto pilo t
a Ha rrie r in com ba t, and is a Weapo ns
and Tac tics In str uctor. She’s defin itely
got th e right st uff and can han dl e a tact i-
cal je twi th th ebest of th em. Yo ucan ’t get
muc h mo re pr e- qual ified th an th at.
Me etJen na Dol an, LtCo l., US MC R.
She has a resum e mos t mal e pilo ts wou ldenvy. A 1996 gr adua te of the U.S. Naval
Acade my ,Jen na chos ethe Mar ine Corp s,
and avia ti on on top of tha t. Bein g a
Mari ne is muc h th e same for me n and
wome n. All Mar ine offic ers at tend The
Basic Sc hool , at Qu ant ico, Virgin ia to
le arn how to be in fan tr y off ice rs. Thi s
come s bef ore any other tr aini ng or any
oth er fol lo w- on jo b as si gnm ent. She had
to tr ain rig ht alo ng sid e her ma le coun ter -
part s, with few if any conc essi ons ma defor gen de r. You wan t to be a Mar in e?
Earn it! Jenn a most ce rta inly did.
She atte nde d Na va l Avia to r pil ot
trai ning and wa s the first woma n to fly
Har ri ers in a tact ical sq uad ron. Th at
spea ks volum es to her ability. Afte r she
had esta blis he d her sel f withi n her gun
squad ron, she was se lec ted to atte nd the
Mari ne Avia tion We apo ns and Tac tic s
Squadon-1, ot he rwi se knownas
MAWTS-1. Thi s is Mari ne eq uiva le nt tothe Navy’sTop Gun and the USAF
Figh ter Wea pon sSchool.It’sabigdealto
get se lec te d. Je nn a was qui ckl y mo ving
to the top of the aviator heap.
But sh e le ft act ive dut y to pu rsu e a
civi lia n career an d bui ld a family. Tho se
ar e impo rta nt , too. She main ta ined he r
comm issio n in th e Marine Reserves, but
flyi ng wasn ’t par t of th at.
A chan ce meeting at Os hkosh in
2010 cha nge dal lthat.ShesawtheSHAR
in Aeros hel l Sq uare and marched over to
intr oduc e hers el f.BBUUYY AAMMEERRII CC AA NN !! !!
Specializing in Landing Gear
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J.T. Evans
AIRCRAFT SALES, INC.
4 InFlightUSACelebrating 34 Years December 2017COVER STORY
Cont inued on Pa ge 12JENNA DOL AN,L TCOL ., USMCR, FIRST WOMEN TOEVER STRAP
ON A SEA HAR RI ER
Jenn aDol an, LtCol. ,USM CR (Court esy Art Nalls Av iati on)Capt. J.M. Dol an“Dookie”inthecock-
pi t. (Co urtesyArt NallsAviation)