28 years ago today, the US military removed the ban on women in combat aviation, allowing women to become combat pilots. The decision was a culmination of activism, internal and external pressure, and the undeniably important role women aviators played in Operation Desert Storm

The first woman to become a combat pilot for USAF was then-Lt. Jeannie Leavitt (now Maj Gen). She graduated top of her pilot training class, allowing her to choose her own aircraft assignment. Despite the ban on women combat pilots, she chose the F-15E

The policy meant the Air Force would have to refuse her selection, which highlighted the absurdity of standards that claimed elite pilots were trained and earned their spots through objective merit, yet did not reward merit if a person happened to be a woman

As Leavitt's case was working its way up, on April 28, 1993, SECDEF Les Aspin announced a change in policy, that the ban was lifted and women would be subject to the same objective standards as men, including allowing them into combat aviation roles.

Levitt became USAF's first woman fighter pilot. She was joined by Col. Sharon Preszler, who had been denied a fighter slot but was reassigned and became the first woman to fly F-16s. Col. Martha McSally became the first woman to fly in combat, piloting A-10s in Iraq in 1995.

This didn't end problems. Leavitt recalled: "Some men were subtle with their lack of support, while a couple were outwardly hostile toward me... Some of the men who were initially opposed to having female pilots... changed their minds once they saw that we were competent pilots."

McSally noted: "It didn’t help that our leader at the top had indicated lack of support... Leadership matters. Culture matters—it sets the stage... During the early days... everybody was watching us, and there were just some jerks who were going to try to take away your dream."

Diversity is vital. Levitt said: "We want a mix of backgrounds... of races, genders. We don’t want to all look the same. We don’t want to all think the same—we want the diversity of thought... we are going to beat [future threats] with being able to out-think them."