'Angry': First female Thunderbird pilot 'shocked' after Air Force yanked articles on her

[Demovictory9]

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-dei-2671802308/

Col. Nicole Malachowski was celebrated for being the first woman selected to fly Thunderbird #3 with the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron and the first woman to fly on any Department of Defense military jet demonstration team. But all articles about her were yanked from websites in accordance with President Donald Trump's directive to remove all diversity, equity and inclusion content from government sites.

The Air Force later told CNN in a statement that the content was being restored. When CNN looked at the stories, they are now headlined saying, "DEI_A Life in flight for the first woman 'Thunderbirds' pilot."


Speaking to CNN, Malachowski said, "When I first discovered that these articles were disappearing, I think I had a mix of emotions. The first being a little bit of shock and confusion."






"The fact is that I have been retired for over seven years, and many of the articles that were deleted about me were more than a decade old," she said. "Then I started hearing that this was happening to countless other minority and women veterans, you know, across our country. And it occurred to me that this is a bigger problem than just my individual story. And I think that was when I started to feel deeply concerned and maybe a little bit angry."

[enough]

1. Gnashing of teeth --

[BoRaGard]

2. G.O.P. is so afraid of women

egos so weak and degenerate that they engage in their sick attack on human free will

[rubbersole]

7. Incels gotta incel.

Fear and loathing in the USAF via the White House.

[Irish_Dem]

3. The USAF is very proud of the Thunderbirds.

It is a significant honor to be selected to fly with the this elite US Air Force demonstration team.

From online AI:

To fly with the Thunderbirds, pilots need to be highly skilled, experienced fighter pilots with at least 750 hours in a fighter aircraft. They also need to demonstrate superior flying skills in operational units and be nominated by at least two active Thunderbird members. The selection process is rigorous, and successful candidates undergo extensive training to hone their skills for precision maneuvers and high-speed flying.

[ms liberty]

11. My second grade teacher's son was a Thunderbird when I was in her class

This was about 1966/67 in Tampa Fla, home of MacDill AFB. She was rightfully very proud of it - she had a picture of him in his jet on her wall behind her desk, the official from-above-in-the-air shots. Looking back now, it's possible that he was newly assigned and that's why I remember it so well, but as an adult I'm now also sure she was thrilled he wasn't flying in Nam!
Editing to add, her name was Munson.

[Irish_Dem]

13. Yes it was dangerous to be a USAF pilot during that time period.

He was lucky to be with the Thunderbirds.

That is cool.

[OnlinePoker]

4. Apparently it's been restored according to the following article

Days after 9NEWS reported that the U.S. Air Force had removed certain articles about a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and the first female Thunderbird pilot from military websites, the webpages have been restored.

The Air Force had said the articles were taken down in compliance with the Trump administration's directives to eliminate content related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

On Friday, the Air Force confirmed that digital content related to the career of retired Col. Nicole Malachowski is being restored across all Air Force platforms.


https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/air-force-restores-articles-first-female-thunderbird-pilot-dei/73-7a8693e0-1590-40b0-b99a-e3f358fe4761

[robbob]

5. I have a question, it's meant sincerely:

I’m trying to imagine the rational for all these historical deletions we’ve heard about, and of course, the obvious one is racism (or, in this case, misogyny), but my question is; are these kinds of historical “profiles in courage” stories part of the website for ALL notables who served? In other words; are they leaving up all kinds of historical information about WHITE military heroes, battalions, achievements, etc. etc., while targeting any mention of non-white, non-male service members?

Because if there’s a double standard at work it’s definitely racism, but otherwise the argument “could” be made that minorities in the military are being accorded special mention simply because the military had wanted to highlight the achievements of minority groups who had served.

And, to be clear, I have no problem with that, in fact I think it’s great, but I like to have all the facts at hand in case I’m arguing the issue with someone.

[Demovictory9]

9. I can't answer all your questions. I'm thinking this article would mention she's the "first woman to...."

a articl about a white male hero would make no mention of his race or gender..

[Hekate]

10. Trump & Hegseth are erasing history itself. If you erase history& feature only white males...

…that means nobody made a contribution except those white males.

All our lives have intersected with heroes who are neither male nor white. My mom’s best friend when I was growing up had been a WASP in WW II. My Senator was Daniel Inouye, who lost his arm in Italy saving his unit, serving in the 442nd. When I was volunteering with the local VFP during BushCheney admin, the honorary chair of our chapter was Col. Kennedy, a retired Tuskegee Airman.

Incidentally, I never even knew about the WASPS until I was middle aged. Those women had been erased.

What Trump & Hegseth & the rest of that toxic crew want is a power structure that is white and male, period. Their egos are so fragile and so angry that there is no room for anyone else to be acknowledged for high achievements. It would be pathetic if the lies weren’t so goddam dangerous.

[robbob]

15. Ok, but that was my question:

Does this particular website (I assume it’s some kind of .gov site for the US forces) make a habit of featuring stories about the WHITE historical figures who have served, along with their accomplishments. Just because history books and classrooms are full of these stories doesn’t mean that is something you would find on this website.

Personally I suspect that yes, part of this website is dedicated to historical achievements of the armed forces, and that this “DEI” nonsense is just a code word to justify blatant racism, but that’s just the feeling I get off this current administration.

[Hekate]

18. When the term Affirmative Action was replaced by DEI, racists & misogynists just carried over their hate

You can hear it in haters’ voices, just as with AA — the resentment, the whine, the playground accusation that “it’s not fair” for someone else to get a turn on the swingset or for someone else to win the footrace. It’s not fair for everyone to get an equal chance.

AA & DEI were intended to indicate fairness, and they so quickly became code in the mouths of the haters for words they were no longer allowed to say, like the N-word.

You are aware that the entire US government is electronically scrubbing the vocabulary of its records, publications, and websites. You know this already, right? And you are already aware that large categories of books are forcibly being removed from US military academies and from public colleges and K-12 schools, right?

You really need to read this:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20121741

applegrove (125,695 posts)
Sun Mar 9, 2025, 10:55 PM

The list of words Trump is banning from government is the most stunning document of our time. Click the image below to [View all]

https://bsky.app/profile/sethabramson.bsky.social/post/3ljybvk6gl22v

Fascism is here.

The list of words Trump is banning from government is the most stunning document of our time. Click the image below to see how many words Trump and Musk have canceled as part of their new Reich.

[MagickMuffin]

17. White Men have claimed credit for achievements they didn't deserve

Throughout history, women made so much progress and then the White Men take the credit.

Kinda like when republicans vote no on infrastructure bills then claim they did. Standing in front of those large mock up checks.


Poor little mama boys didn’t get the love they thought they deserved.

[tishaLA]

6. Last week Alex Wagner's podcastTrumpland focused on the MAGAfication of the military

I've recommended it to lots of people.

And if you didn't like her show, OK, but on the podcast she has the benefit of a good editor who keeps things tight.

It's here for those who might be interested: https://www.msnbc.com/trumpland-alex-wagner

[IronLionZion]

8. Make America Gilead Again

From the idiots who claim "you can't erase history".

[ms liberty]

12. This is so infuriating.

[Aussie105]

14. Deleting articles from the history books because the 'DEI is bad' thinking?

Is this being interpreted as only white males are worthy, and anyone else, be a person female or/and a POC, gained note through some unfair favouritism in the past?

So her skills don't count, in other words?
I'd suggest her skills are independent of her gender, and in no way an example of DEI favouritism.

It's application of a number of factors - wooly thinking, inaccurate thinking, sexist thinking, racism - illogical thinking at its worst!
Anything positive to say about someone who is not a white male, is DEI, and needs to be deleted.

Too common in America!

No wonder Kamala Harris didn't stand a chance!

[Demovictory9]

16. 1970s and before, white males had no competition for many jobs...the ultimate DEI