LCDR Bill Reuter looks on as LCDR Lisa Novak ascends an F/A-18 Hornet at Naval Test Pilots School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

In 1991, the Navy began assigning women aviators to combat aircraft squadrons. By 1995, there were 206 female pilots, including 82 combat aviators. The nation's first "strike-fighter," the F/A-18 combines firepower with excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities. The Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron proudly flies them. In 2008 there were two female Blue Angels pilots.