At age 32, Kate Kidder is one of two women Pilot Instructors in the VRM 50 Squadron at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado.
While three women are training to join her, Kidder operates in a field that is still largely dominated by men though Commanding Officer Emily Stellpflug leads the squadron.
“I didn’t know I [as a woman] could become a pilot until I got to the Naval Academy. So that was pretty cool. When I was training and got to fly in the back of the helo (helicopter), I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do forever.’”
And now, Kidder is not only flying, but is teaching others to achieve that goal, as well as building a healthy learning environment.
She feels that her position affords her the opportunity to shape the squadron’s culture in positive ways.
Setting a community standard
“I do think that we’ve been able to really set a standard for the culture of the community because we are basically training everybody that goes out to the rest of the community,” said Kidder.
Although Kidder is able to lead by example now as a pilot instructor, she had a different experience to undergo to obtain her instructor qualifications.
She was pregnant.
And the Navy fully supported her during her pregnancy, she said.
“The Navy provided me a specialty maternity flight suit that enabled me to continue getting my qualifications despite being pregnant,” Kidder said.
Flying and battling morning sickness
The whole process took her about three or four months to officially become an instructor, and Kidder completed it all the way until the start of her third trimester.
She was very closely monitored by medical staff during her pregnancy, but she did have to endure and work around bouts of morning sickness that hit her every day, she said.
Never got sick in the plane…but it was pretty rough, probably won’t do it again.”
-Navy Pilot Instructor Kate Kidder said with a laugh.
“Never got sick in the plane…but it was pretty rough, probably won’t do it again,” Kidder said with a laugh.
As helpful as it was for Kidder to have her own maternity flight suit, that is still a question that she and Concetta Denisi, a female Naval Aircrewman for the VRM 50, receive all the time.
“Everyone was, like, ‘Wait, are you allowed to fly on the Osprey?” Kidder said, and Denisi jumped in.
‘Bible of all their policies’
She said that she tells them to read the CNAF-M3710, which is like their Bible of all their policies.
“You’re not going to be training just guys, you’re going to be overseeing females too,” she said. “Read the instruction. Yes, we can [fly while pregnant] actually.”
Since then, Kidder has experienced the highs and lows that accompany aviation.
“I’ve seen both healthy and unhealthy environments,” she said.
However, being open to Naval opportunities has gotten her “an amazing life and career so far.”
