Air Force Fighter Pilot Fly F-35B On Navy Marine Corps Warship: Capt. Melanie Ziebart

Air Force Pilot Joins Navy Marine Corps To Fly F-35B aboard its warship: “When I get into the cockpit, it’s like the world shuts off around me and the only thing that matters is the mission,” said Air Force Capt. Melanie Ziebart, a pilot assigned to Yokota Air Force Base. “Being a single-seat fighter pilot is incredibly rewarding and confidence-building because it’s only you in that jet and you’re trusted to figure it out when things go wrong.” Becoming a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force has been something of a family tradition. It was Ziebart’s parents who inspired her from a very young age, both of whom were fighter pilots. Her father was an F-16 pilot with the 35th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, Korea. Her mother was in the first graduating class of women at the Air Force Academy; an essential asset to paving the way for women in military aviation. After pilot training, she became an instructor for the T-37 and later went on to fly the KC-135. “I absolutely look up to her,” sa