Reflections Magazine Issue #80 - Spring 2014 | Page 24

Feature Article

The “Coolest Job Possible”
After doing a little research, she decided she wanted to have the “coolest job
possible.” That job was a helicopter pilot.
First, she completed all-female basic
training. However, she soon discovered
just how difficult her task of becoming a
pilot was going to be when reporting to
Warrant Officer Candidate School at
Fort Rucker, Ala.
“There were no male or female standards, there was a ‘warrant officer standard,’ ” McCormick said of the grueling
training regimen she would encounter.
“That meant running two miles, three
miles, four miles in the formation with
the men. Doing push-ups (on her toes)
the same as the men. The physicality of
it was demanding.”
Seven women started the pilot training program. Only two women finished.
One was McCormick.
“At the end of the six weeks, I could
do 83 push-ups on my toes in two minutes and had emerged as the top female
leader and the number one graduate
in the class,” she said.

24 | Reflections Spring ’14

Next came flight school, which came
with its own set of challenges.
“It’s unlike anything else I had experienced,” McCormick said of the training, which she called “multi-tasking
on steroids.”
One of her first tasks was learning
how to hover, which she said is one of
the hardest piloting skills to master.
“It’s how you move the helicopter
from the landing pad to anywhere,”
she said.
Pilots have to use both hands as well
as their feet simultaneously to control
the helicopter.
“Oh, and you’re scanning outside the
windows to be sure you don’t hit a tree,
a power line, another aircraft,” she said.
“And wait, you’ve got a helmet on with
a microphone and you’re talking to air
traffic control and internally to your
crew—all at the same time!”

Comfort Zone vs. Belief Zone
But she said the technical training
she endured wasn’t as challenging as was
the verbal abuse she constantly received
from her flight instructor.

“I drew the flight instructor who did
not believe women should fly,” McCormick said. “And he tried to fail me every
day by screaming at me.”
She said it affected her confidence
and ultimately her performance.
“The instructor would take the controls away from me and berate me,” she
said. “(He would say) ‘You’re stupid! You
don’t deserve to be here! You’re wasting
my time!’ Over and over again.”
A turning point in McCormick’s training came when her regular instructor
left for a week’s vacation. The substitute
instructor gave McCormick the needed
confidence, and despite the adversity,
she was able to pass her final check
ride exam.
“When things got hard, I would think,
‘Why did God give me this vision of being a helicopter pilot if I wasn’t meant to
be one?’ ” she said. “I had to trust the vision and my abilities despite the difficulties. … Everyone has a choice to live in
their comfort zone or in a belief zone. …
But my belief zone was that I was where
I was supposed to be.”