Thread by @KeenanPeachy

🧵There is one tiny corner of the military that, so far, remains 100% DEI-free. No race or gender preferences allowed. No quotas. Website, shockingly, free of DEI buzzwords like diversity, equity, gender. I can't believe it still exists!

It's Air Force Test Pilot School!

This is the elite school where America's aerospace and weapons test pilots are minted. At Edwards AFB, home of legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager, this is where, as they say, "there is no room for second best."

"Since its creation in 1944, the school has produced an elite list of roughly 3260 graduates. Alumni include World War II flying aces, astronauts, generals, famous first flight pilots and many of today’s innovative flight test leaders."

This is the criteria just to be eligible for admission. No points for race or gender or sexuality.

"Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Bravery and flying skills of the highest order have always been requirements for the flight test mission, but much more is demanded of today's flight test professionals: scientific and engineering knowledge, critical and reasoned judgment, and managerial skills of the first order. A well-devised flight test program, skillfully carried out, calls forth the absolute performance of the aircraft and its associated systems. Finding the people who are capable of planning and flying such a program is not easy, nor is the process automatic.

Contrary to the romanticized view of old Hollywood films, test pilots are not "born" to their talents - they are painstakingly made. Natural ability in the air is necessary, of course, but a delicate touch on the controls and absolute precision on the air are needed - not slapdash bravado.

The test pilot will be following carefully crafted flight profiles, not daring aerial maneuvers. They must be taught to handle his airplane with extraordinary precision: to control their airspeed to the nearest knot, and their altitude virtually to the foot--every time. Beyond this, the student test pilot must have a natural affinity for mechanical systems, an ability to "feel" the airplane and have a well-honed sense of what is happening at any given time. Mature and reasoned judgment is also vital - human lives, and millions of dollars, depend upon how carefully a test mission is planned and flown. But all these skills would be useless without knowledge and training - systematic training in gathering flight data, and then interpreting it. Minutes spent in precision flying must be matched by hours of painstaking effort at computers, in the library, and around the conference table.

It is obvious that in the world of flight testing, there simply is no room for "second best." That is why the Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) takes such efforts to make certain that its graduates are the equal to any in their profession."

Imagine--human lives being at stake!

What about the poor saps strapped into the next jet that pops a door mid-air or collides on landing? What are they, chopped liver?

But it's good to know meritocracy still exists, at least with these guys still in charge:

Of course, this all might be changing. In their newsletter, a female graduate complains there are only 1 or 2 women in each class. "We can do better," she writes. "With so much effort being put into diversity and inclusion in the military, specifically with women, why are the percentages of females applying and attending the USAF TPS still so low?"

Her solution: "Get more women into STEM." lol.

My solution: Most females have zero desire to fly risky test airplanes, because, you know, we're female. So just relax and enjoy your elite status as one of the few, the proud, girl.
edwards.af.mil/News/Commentar…