Barbara Ann Allen Rainey (August 20, 1948 - July 13, 1982) was the first female pilot in the U. S. armed forces. Rainey received her wings of gold as the first female to be designated a Naval aviator in February 1974 and became the first Navy woman to qualify as a jet pilot. She attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. She was killed in an aircraft crash in 1982 while performing her duties as a flight instructor..
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Barbara Ann Allen Rainey (August 20, 1948 - July 13, 1982) was the first female pilot in the U. S. armed forces. Rainey received her wings of gold as the first female to be designated a Naval aviator in February 1974 and became the first Navy woman to qualify as a jet pilot. She attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. She was killed in an aircraft crash in 1982 while performing her duties as a flight instructor..
Allen was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland and was the daughter of a career Naval Officer. She was an outstanding athlete in high school and a member of the National Honor Society. Consistently on the dean's list at Long Beach City College, California, she later transferred to and graduated from Whittier College in California. She was commissioned in the United States Navy Reserve in ceremonies at U.S Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island in December 1970, and was assigned to the Naval Amphibious Base Little...
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