History tells us that the first licensed woman pilot in the United States was Harriet Quimby in 1911. History forgets to tell us that Katherine Wright, sister of the Wright brothers, had as much to do with the first flight at Kittyhawk as did her brothers. Women flew airplanes before they could vote—but not in the U.S. military! During WWI Princess Eugenie Shakhovskaya and Princess Sophie Alexandrovna Dolgorunaya were among the first women to become military pilots in Europe and though American women pilots volunteered, none were taken seriously. Jacqueline Cochran broke the barrier in 1953, set speed and altitude records and lobbied for the use of women pilots in the military—to no avail. Civilian women were flying over the North Pole, around the world, and through the sound barrier but until the 1970s the military resisted having women pilots. The Navy took the first step—in 1974 six women earned their wings and became the first Naval aviators. The Army followed suit in 1974 and trained female helicopter pilots. The Air Force caught up in 1976 and admitted women to the pilot training program. But by virtue of existing policies, their flying was limited to non-combat. Military women pilots would not be flying combat missions. Although the military finally trained women pilots, not until 1993 were women allowed to fly combat aircraft. In the Air Force today women comprise more than 300 pilots, 100 navigators and over 600 enlisted aircrew members, but only a select few are combat pilots.