IAF Course 192 Wings Class of 40 Sees Women Nearly Match Men's Rate

The Israeli Air Force will award pilot wings and officer ranks Thursday at Hatzerim Airbase to 40 graduates of Flight Course 192, closing three years of training that ran throughout the multi-front war. Reports say 215 men entered the course with 38 graduating, a 17.6 percent success rate, and 12 women entered with 2 graduating, a 16.6 percent rate that nearly matches the men. Lt. G. from Herzliya is heading to a squadron as a combat navigator and Lt. O. from Tel Aviv as a flight engineer, while four high-school friends from Modi'in are graduating together as combat and transport navigators. The graduates will move immediately into operational aircrews that carry a heavy share of Israel's defensive and offensive missions on all fronts.