Combat Aircraft Disrupted! The first women in combat aviation

In 1994, a barrier that had grounded generations of women finally lifted. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin formally opened combat aviation roles to female service members—a milestone born from years of determined advocacy and shifting military needs. Despite cultural resistance, these Gen X women demonstrated the personal courage to not just earn wings—but to fly into combat zones where no American woman had gone before. Yet even today, the legacy of their achievements faces challenges—not from enemy forces, but from a quieter, bureaucratic elimination. In recent months, tens of thousands of pages, images, and stories celebrating military ‘firsts’—including those by female aviators—have been scrubbed from public military archives under new DEI rollbacks. On this episode of WMD Dr. Tamara Schwartz welcomes her former cadet training officer, Colonel “Buff” Burkel, USAF (retired). They will trace the arc from the 1994 breakthrough to now: from pilots’ unforgettable missions to modern-day efforts that risk losing their stories, asking the question: when history itself becomes contested territory, who decides which achievements endure—and which vanish?”