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Female Pilots Will Fly Attack Helicopters in a Second Gulf War
Aired March 18, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: If war does begin in Iraq, Apache attack helicopters will lead the charge just like in the first Persian Gulf War. But there is a big difference in some of today's Apache crews. Reporter Karl Penhaul profiles two women who are piloting Apache Helicopters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American pilots do preflight checks on Apache Attack Helicopter. The one in the front seat is Cindy Rosel. She is one of a new band of women flying U.S. Army Attack Helicopters.
C.W.O. CINDY ROSEL, U.S. ARMY: They would think, she's a woman, she probably can't fly. So in that sense you have to prove, yes, I can. I can be just as good as any guy.
PENHAUL: Rosel, used to fly on anti-drug missions in Central America and just completed a tour in South Korea. Now she's on standby in the Kuwaiti desert. She's scheduled to be one of the first wave into battle. Her target, Iraqi tanks and artillery. She'll be the one with her finger on the trigger shooting cannons, rockets and Hellfire missiles.
ROSEL: If the time comes, I signed up to do a job and follow my orders and that involves having people -- or killing people, killing the enemy, then I accept that.
PENHAUL (on camera): The U.S. Army first permitted women to fly attack helicopters in the mid 1990s, but this will be the first time women have flown the latest generation of Apaches, the Longbow into combat. There are women in this unit, that is first attack from Fort Hood. But alongside Rosel, Lisa Berry is the only other female pilot. It's still very much a man's world. Women pilots, like Berry, say they must battle hard to earn the trust of male colleagues and their place in the flying seat. But away from the $25 million machine, she says she's just a regular girl.
C.W.O. LIZA BERRY, U.S. ARMY: Want to attack, destroy, the same kind of feelings. But when I do get off work, I take off the uniform and I'm a wife. I am a daughter and I am a friend. And I like to do everything that normal women do.
PENHAUL (voice-over): Besides flying, Berry's helping plan a convoy to shuttle ammunition and fuel to the front lines to resupply the Apache Helicopters. And although she may soon find herself in the thick of war, she doesn't view herself simply as a warrior. BERRY: It's all about peacekeeping to me. It's not about death and destruction, although that is a fact of war.
PENHAUL: And when the bullets begin to fly, these women will be fighting to prove both genders are equal, even on the battlefield.
Karl Penhaul in Northern Kuwait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
War>
Aired March 18, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: If war does begin in Iraq, Apache attack helicopters will lead the charge just like in the first Persian Gulf War. But there is a big difference in some of today's Apache crews. Reporter Karl Penhaul profiles two women who are piloting Apache Helicopters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American pilots do preflight checks on Apache Attack Helicopter. The one in the front seat is Cindy Rosel. She is one of a new band of women flying U.S. Army Attack Helicopters.
C.W.O. CINDY ROSEL, U.S. ARMY: They would think, she's a woman, she probably can't fly. So in that sense you have to prove, yes, I can. I can be just as good as any guy.
PENHAUL: Rosel, used to fly on anti-drug missions in Central America and just completed a tour in South Korea. Now she's on standby in the Kuwaiti desert. She's scheduled to be one of the first wave into battle. Her target, Iraqi tanks and artillery. She'll be the one with her finger on the trigger shooting cannons, rockets and Hellfire missiles.
ROSEL: If the time comes, I signed up to do a job and follow my orders and that involves having people -- or killing people, killing the enemy, then I accept that.
PENHAUL (on camera): The U.S. Army first permitted women to fly attack helicopters in the mid 1990s, but this will be the first time women have flown the latest generation of Apaches, the Longbow into combat. There are women in this unit, that is first attack from Fort Hood. But alongside Rosel, Lisa Berry is the only other female pilot. It's still very much a man's world. Women pilots, like Berry, say they must battle hard to earn the trust of male colleagues and their place in the flying seat. But away from the $25 million machine, she says she's just a regular girl.
C.W.O. LIZA BERRY, U.S. ARMY: Want to attack, destroy, the same kind of feelings. But when I do get off work, I take off the uniform and I'm a wife. I am a daughter and I am a friend. And I like to do everything that normal women do.
PENHAUL (voice-over): Besides flying, Berry's helping plan a convoy to shuttle ammunition and fuel to the front lines to resupply the Apache Helicopters. And although she may soon find herself in the thick of war, she doesn't view herself simply as a warrior. BERRY: It's all about peacekeeping to me. It's not about death and destruction, although that is a fact of war.
PENHAUL: And when the bullets begin to fly, these women will be fighting to prove both genders are equal, even on the battlefield.
Karl Penhaul in Northern Kuwait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
War>
