{"id":21405,"date":"2019-02-06T01:29:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T01:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/06\/air-forces-f-16-viper-demonstration-team-commander-is-the-real-captain-marvel\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:34:52","slug":"air-forces-f-16-viper-demonstration-team-commander-is-the-real-captain-marvel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/02\/06\/air-forces-f-16-viper-demonstration-team-commander-is-the-real-captain-marvel\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force\u2019s F-16 Viper Demonstration Team commander is the real Captain Marvel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No offense to Carol Danvers, but there\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/video\/2018\/09\/21\/hear-the-air-force-chief-of-staffs-reaction-to-the-captain-marvel-trailer\/\" target=_blank>real Captain Marvel<\/a> in the Air Force breaking glass ceilings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force recently made Capt. Zoe \u201cSiS\u201d Kotnik the first female pilot to command the F-16 Viper Demo Team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t believe I have this opportunity,\u201d Kotnik said in a Jan. 29 interview with Live Airshow TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2011 graduate of the Air Force Academy, Kotnik earned her wings in 2013 and became an F-16C pilot. She\u2019s been assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, and the 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, where she flew missions in support of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/news\/us\/higher-further-faster-air-force-names-first-female-fighter-pilot-to-command-f-16-viper-team-1.567273\" target=_blank> Operation Noble Eagle<\/a>, the air defense effort designed to prevent a recurrence of 9-11-type attacks in America, according to her official biography. During her eight year career, she\u2019s amassed more than 1,000 flight hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She may be humble about her groundbreaking promotion, but her origin story clearly shows a woman who was destined to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kotnik\u2019s mom was a private pilot and her uncle, Aviation Hall of Fame pilot Charlie Hillard, was the first American to win the World Aerobatics Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s really cool to have that connection and go full circle with that,\u201d she said in that same interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zloIsBBjM0A\"\nframeborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\"\nallowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What really sparked her interest in the skies though was an encounter with a NASA T-38 Talon jet at an airshow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe NASA T-38 actually pulled up to show center, shut down their engines, popped the canopy, pulled off the helmet and it was a female fighter pilot,\u201d she told Live Airshow TV. \u201cAnd it was at that moment I realized, \u2018Oh my god, that\u2019s exactly what I can do.\u2019 And it was that alone, having that visual to realize it was something I could do as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now she flies under the call sign \u201cSiS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe story that I can share about the call sign is that I\u2019ve been one of the only women in most of my squadrons in the Air Force, through pilot training and in most of my past squadrons,\u201d she told Live Airshow TV. \u201cSo I am the little sister of the squadron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All that hard work paid off on Jan. 29 when Gen. Mike Holmes certified her as the Air Combat Command\u2019s Viper team leader. Kotnik\u2019s team is currently in preseason training mode at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina before their first show in Key West, Florida, March 30-31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese shows allow us to demonstrate the capabilities of the F-16 to a worldwide audience while highlighting the work of the airmen who keep the Viper flying,\u201d said Master Sgt. Chris Schneider, the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team superintendent, in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acc.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/1743186\/f-16-viper-demonstration-team-announces-new-pilot\/\" target=_blank>Air Combat Command press release<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not every day people get the chance to hear the sound of freedom roaring over their heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The main purpose of the Viper Demonstration Team is recruitment, and it certainly appears the Air Force is making a concerted effort to entice more female pilots to join their ranks, at least based on \u201cCaptain Marvel\u201d-inspired Twitter campaigns like the one below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking of which, the Carol Danvers-esque trajectory of Kotnik\u2019s career and achievements has not been lost on the F-16 Viper Team, which highlighted her newfound commander status in a tweet featuring an obvious nod to the upcoming Marvel blockbuster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For her part, Kotnik just wants other young women to see that you don\u2019t need superpowers to fly high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I\u2019m looking forward to most is the potential to have an influence on younger generations,\u201d she said in that Air Combat Command press release. \u201cI know firsthand how impactful airshows can be and what a difference it makes to young people to see just one example of what they can do and who they can become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI hope to be a source of inspiration and motivation they can draw from in their own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USAFRecruiting\/status\/1091391035958329345\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/USAFRecruiting\/status\/1091391035958329345<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Breaking news!<br>@ACC_Commander , commander of @Air Combat @USAF_ACC, has certified <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/usairforce?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@usairforce<\/a> Capt. Zoe &quot;SiS&quot; Kotnik as the new <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/ViperDemoTeam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ViperDemoTeam<\/a> pilot.<br><br>She is also the Air Force&#39;s first female single-ship tactical demonstration pilot! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ol67541aRe\">pic.twitter.com\/ol67541aRe<\/a><\/p>&mdash; F-16 Viper Demonstration Team (@ViperDemoTeam) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ViperDemoTeam\/status\/1090249070411685889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, the Air Force made Capt. Zoe \u201cSiS\u201d Kotnik the first female pilot to command the F-16 Viper Demo Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column","good-news-report","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,24,89,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3123],"class_list":["post-21405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"PNXCGUTHY5GJHCUADLA5QWBXBU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/02\/06\/air-forces-f-16-viper-demonstration-team-commander-is-the-real-captain-marvel\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Air Force\u2019s F-16 Viper Demonstration Team commander is the real Captain Marvel - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Monday, the Air Force made Capt. 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