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Major Peeler Harper is the daughter of Patricia Jane Fowler and James Oliver Peeler. She is in Iraq fighting for our freedom. I have a photo of her in her Blackhawk Helicoptor if interested:
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Maj. Michele P. Harper, pilot with the 449th Theater Aviation Brigade out of Morrisville, N.C., prepares for takeoff. Harper, a Hendersonville, N.C., native is the only female Black Hawk Helicopter pilot in the N.C. Army National Guard.
If a pilot ever finds himself in the cockpit of a North Carolina Army National Guard UH60 Black Hawk helicopter with a female aviator, he will have no doubt as to her identity. That is because there is only one.
Sixteen years ago, Maj. Michele P. Harper became a pioneer of the sky when she graduated flight school in Fort Rucker, Ala., becoming the only female Black Hawk pilot in the N.C. Army National Guard, a distinction she would hold for the next sixteen years.
“It makes me feel good to have done something that many females have not done,” said Harper, a Hendersonville, N.C., native. “But at the same time, I wish more females would go for a non-traditional military role. I mean, it is flattering to say, but I definitely would not mind flying with some females.”
According to Harper, who is constantly teased about females allegedly being bad drivers and therefore, worse pilots, females are known to have a better landings because they touch down softer.
“Females always want things to be nice and pretty, and we take that into our flying as well,” Harper stated. “Pilots are always complementing me on what a nice landing I have.”
Harper may fly Black Hawks now, but she got interested in flying with her eyes on a much bigger ‘bird.’
“I have always and still want to be an astronaut,” said the mother of 17-month-old son, Soren. “Before you apply to the space program you have to be a pilot first, and I was always at the airport getting on any aircraft that they would let me.”
Harper is deployed to Iraq as Task Force 449 Aviation Brigade’s Administrative Officer. Her job consists of overseeing all personnel actions for the Task Force, including pay issues, awards and orders.
“It’s the best job,” said Harper. “I have an awesome staff. I love to help people because I am a people person.”
However, for Harper there is no better experience than the time she spends in the sky.
“I get to see the world,” Harper explained about her love of flying. “I get to see so many different things that others may never see. Last night, when everyone else was sitting in their rooms or walking around their office, I was flying over Babylon. How many people can say that?”
“I get the same feeling at home flying over the Blue Ridge Mountains or on the coast. All those places that are inaccessible in a vehicle, I see.”
There are currently two females in training to be pilots, and if Harper gets her way, it will not be long before she is part of an all-female mission.
“The males would not even know what to say,” laughed Harper. “They are so afraid to even have two females up front because they have never seen more than one, but it is time to shake them up a bit.”
Edwin E Peeler
epeeler3@tampabay.rr.com
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