GOP senator reveals she was sexually assaulted when she served in the military

McSally served in the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1988 to 2010 and rose to the rank of colonel before retiring. One of the highest-ranking female pilots in the history of the Air Force, McSally was the first American woman to fly in combat following the 1991 lifting of the prohibition on female combat pilots. McSally flew the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft over Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Southern Watch. She was also the first female commander of a USAF fighter squadron (the 354th Fighter Squadron (354 FS), based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base).

McSally earned her USAF pilot's wings in 1991 after completing Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams AFB east of Phoenix, Arizona. Following graduation, she was assigned to Laughlin AFB, Texas, as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot (FAIP) in the T-37 trainer. When the military's combat aircraft restriction for female pilots was removed, McSally went on to Lead-in Fighter Training (LIFT) in 1993.[6]

McSally then completed Replacement Training Unit for the A-10 Thunderbolt II at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. She was then assigned to an operational A-10 squadron and deployed to Kuwait in January 1995.[7] During this deployment, McSally flew combat patrols over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq and became "the first female U.S. fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron."[8]

In 1999, she deployed to Europe in support of Operation Allied Force. McSally was selected as one of seven active duty Air Force officers for the Legislative Fellowship program. She lived in Washington, D.C. working as an advisor to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on defense and foreign affairs policy.[9]

Promoted to Major, she reported to Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2000 for an Operation Southern Watch temporary assignment. Following her promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, she took command of the A-10 equipped 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB in July 2004. She was then subsequently deployed to Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom, dispatching weapons for the first time from her A-10 in combat. In 2005, McSally and her squadron were awarded the David C. Shilling Award, given by the Air Force Association for the best aerospace contribution to national defense.