Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber & Lieutenant Madeline Swegle

Two recent firsts in the US Navy. Congratulations to Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber who has been awarded the position of brigade commander next semester at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Brigade commander is the highest leadership position within the student body. Barber is the first Black female midshipman to serve in the position and the 16th woman to be selected for brigade commander in the 44 years women have been attending the academy. 

Barber, of Lake Forest, Illinois, is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to commission as a Marine Corps ground officer, according to the Navy press release.

Also, our belated congratulations to Lieutenant Madeline Swegle, who made history as the U.S. Navy’s first Black female tactical fighter pilot. She received her wings of gold at the end of July.

CBS News reports that In a video released by the Navy ahead of her ceremony, Swegle said she had aspirations of becoming a pilot since her parents would take her to see the Blue Angels.

“My parents raised me and they told me that I can be whatever I wanted to be. We would go see the Blue Angels when they were in town,” she said. “They were just so cool I loved them. I love fast planes.” 

Her early love of fast planes became the focus of her career and she describes her three years of training with a higher-performance aircraft “daunting,” but also described the thrill she felt.

LTJG Maddy Swegle • U.S. Navy’s First Black Female Tactical Jet Pilot