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Boston native becomes first US woman to complete IAF pilot course

She is only one of two women graduating the course this year.

By World Israel News Staff

A Boston native, 21, will become the first U.S.-born woman to complete the Israel Air Force’s prestigious pilot course. The graduation will take place on Dec. 24 in a special ceremony on the Hatzerim Airbase near Beer Sheba.

Only known as Lt. O, she finishes in an elite group of only 39 who completed the course from the original 500 who entered three years ago. She is only one of two women graduating the course this year. She is also the member of only a small group of women who have ever completed the course since it opened to females 25 years ago.

Lt. O has IAF yichus, or “pedigree” – her father was a navigator in the IAF. She is also the daughter of a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) employee in New England.

She will serve as an IAF Flight Engineer.

If anyone was going to make it through the course, Lt. O would have been a good bet. According to reports, she graduated from Brookline High School a year early and took the extra year to backpack through Central America.

Lt. O had more to deal with than most Israel Defense Forces recruits as she’s what’s known as a Lone Soldier, meaning she’s in the country without family.

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FIDF New England executive director Luba Loewenberg said in a statement, “In addition to making history, it’s important to remember that Lt. O was not obligated to serve in the IDF but chose to become a lone soldier in order to protect Israel.”

“Lt. O demonstrates how one person can secure a future for the broader Jewish community. From all of us in Boston, mazel tov and thank you – we are so proud!”