{"id":14201,"date":"2020-08-19T17:39:32","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T17:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/19\/to-get-more-female-pilots-the-air-force-is-changing-the-way-it-designs-weapons\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:10:19","slug":"to-get-more-female-pilots-the-air-force-is-changing-the-way-it-designs-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2020\/08\/19\/to-get-more-female-pilots-the-air-force-is-changing-the-way-it-designs-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"To get more female pilots, the Air Force is changing the way it designs weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 In 2022, the U.S. Air Force will take delivery of the F-15EX, a new and improved version of the nearly 40-year-old F-15E Strike Eagle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But for all of the modern advances of the new jet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/07\/09\/heres-how-the-air-force-is-remembering-its-first-female-pilots\/\" target=_blank>only 9 percent of women in the Air Force<\/a> currently meet the body-size standards for piloting the legacy F-15 and possibly also the new EX variant, potentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/05\/22\/in-bid-for-more-female-pilots-air-force-removes-height-requirement\/\" target=_blank>blocking highly qualified pilots from flying a platform <\/a>that will be in operation for decades to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like the vast majority of the Air Force\u2019s aircraft and aircrew equipment, the F-15 was designed to meet the anthropometric specifications of a male pilot in 1967. But in an Aug. 4 memo, the Air Force mandated that future weapons programs use current body size data that reflects the central 95 percent of the U.S. recruitment population \u2014 a move meant to make pilot and aircrew jobs more accessible to women and people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper, who signed off on the changes, said there is a strategic imperative for opening the door to a more diverse pool of pilots and aircrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During a war with a near-peer, technologically advanced nation like China, the U.S. military will have to contend with a well-trained, highly educated force that might outnumber its own, he said. By fielding weapon systems that can only be used by a smaller portion of the U.S. population, the Air Force could be shutting out some of its most promising potential pilots or aircrew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe human factor is a delineator and it likely will be against an adversary like China, where I believe we will have a greater propensity to trust the operator in the seat, to delegate more, to empower more and take greater risk in that delegation,\u201d Roper told Defense News in an exclusive Aug. 6 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll well and good when you\u2019re a country that\u2019s going to face a country with a population that\u2019s four times your own by the end of this decade,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if we begin with a recruitment population that we\u2019ve artificially halved because of how we design our cockpits and workstations, we\u2019ve just doubled our work, and now we make every operator in the seat have to be eight times better than the counterpart they will face in a nation like China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new guidance directs the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center to conduct a study that will solidify a more inclusive anthropometric standard that would include 95 percent of the U.S. population eligible for recruitment in the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But until that wraps up, all new-start Air Force programs must be designed with cockpits, aircrew operating stations and aircrew equipment that accommodates eight anthropometric data sets. These eight cases use measurement data from the Centers for Disease Control and represent a range of body types including individuals who are short in stature, have short limbs or have a long torso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AFLCMC\u2019s Airman\u2019s Accommodations Laboratory will also run a three-year study that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/04\/26\/crippling-manning-crisis-for-enlisted-aviators-prompts-air-force-to-expand-retraining\/\" target=_blank>will develop separate anthropometric standards for career enlisted aviators<\/a>, who perform specialized jobs onboard military aircraft including flight engineers, flight attendants and loadmasters. Currently, career enlisted aviators also must meet the 1967 anthropometric standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>\u2018A hidden barrier\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legacy design parameters \u2014 which stem from a 1967 survey of male pilots and measure everything from a pilot\u2019s standing height, eye height while sitting, and reach \u2014 have effectively barred 44 percent of women from being able to fly aircraft unless they receive a waiver, with women of color disproportionately affected, the Air Force stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even after a waiver is granted, the pilot will remain disqualified from certain platforms regardless of his or her aptitude. Then, when future requirements are defined for new platforms or equipment, the systems are usually designed to meet the existing pool of pilots, creating a self-perpetuating problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is a hidden barrier with multiple layers,\u201d said Lt. Col. Jessica Ruttenber, an Air Force mobility planner and a leader of the Women\u2019s Initiative Team that advocated for the change in anthropometric standards. \u201cPeople are trying to do the right thing, but the barriers are baked into legacy policy. And without even knowing it, they\u2019re kind of cut and pasting the same standard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruttenber said the new guidance addresses the root of the problem by establishing new design specifications \u2014 ensuring platforms are engineered to accommodate a wide range of body sizes from the start of the development process, rather than papering over the problem with waivers after the fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[For] the next inter-theater airlift that is going to replace the C-130 or C-17, we can\u2019t get the anthropometric data wrong or women are still going to be eliminated 30 years from now. The C-130 and C-17 still eliminate one out of three women from flying it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more than a year, the Women\u2019s Initiative Group worked with Chief Master Sgt. Chris Dawson, the career field manager for the Air National Guard\u2019s career enlisted aviators, on trying to garner funding for an anthropometric study for CEAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere were so many communities we had to coordinate with that we realized really quickly that this has to come from the top down or we\u2019re not going to be as successful,\u201d Ruttenber said. After meeting with Roper, the Women\u2019s Initiative group was granted $4 million for the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruttenber, a KC-135 pilot, remembers being pulled out of her first pilot training class in 2005 because her physical examination indicated that she didn\u2019t meet the standing height requirement of 5-foot-4 by a fraction of an inch. She then sought a waiver that would allow her to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe process was different back then. I had to drive from base to base and get measured in each cockpit in an attempt to get an exception to policy. I went to Charleston and I got measured in a C-17, and then I went to Little Rock and got measured in a C-130,\u201d she said. \u201cI got measured in the KC-135 and so on and so on and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, the Air Force has made the process to obtain a waiver less arduous, and it recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/11\/15\/air-force-considers-expanding-pilot-height-requirements-as-it-seeks-more-female-aviators\/\" target=_blank>removed the initial height requirement<\/a> \u2014 although some platforms still require pilots to meet the 5-foot-4 standard. Newer aircraft such as the F-35 joint strike fighter and the T-7 trainer currently under development will also accommodate a wider height and weight range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Ruttenber pointed out that the specifications for legacy aircraft will remain a hurdle for the progression of female pilots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven if the F-35 is 97 percent accommodating for women, I still can\u2019t get there because the T-38,\u201d which is used for fighter pilot training, \u201chas a 41 percent accommodation envelope for women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Roper said he is working with defense contractors to see whether there can be modifications made to legacy platforms \u2014 or upgraded versions like the F-15EX \u2014 that will accommodate operators with a wider range of body sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But whether those changes are ultimately made will depend on if they are technically feasible and funding is available for design changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time of the Aug. 6 interview, Roper had already spoken to some defense industry executives \u2014 including those from Lockheed Martin \u2014 about the new guidance and planned similar phone calls with Boeing and Northrop Grumman officials over the coming days. The reaction from industry so far has been \u201cvery positive\u201d but \u201cvery surprised\u201d that such bias still exists, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Roper acknowledged that more work has yet to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChanging the policy is one thing. Changing the platforms is another. And that\u2019s going to require cost to do. My next job, aside from designing future systems differently \u2014 which we\u2019ll do \u2014 is to find options to bring systems into greater compliance with the new policy and then to advocate tooth and nail for the funding needed to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe litmus test for the Air Force long term has got to be balancing accommodation with the technology for future platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Corrected on 8\/19\/2020 at 6:15 p.m. to provide the proper designation of the aircraft Ruttenber for which was measured.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Future aircraft and work stations will be designed for a larger range of body sizes, which could allow more women to take on coveted pilot and aircrew 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