UPDRAFTS
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Retired US Army Aviator Linda McDonald DuMoulin
Pioneer cracked glass ceiling for women as a US Army pilot.
WHEN LINDA MCDONALD DuMoulin sets her sights on a goal, she doesn’t let obstacles that might stop most people stand in her way. The 80-year-old veteran from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975 was the US Army’s first female helicoptermaintenance test pilot after earning her wings the year before. Over 23 years, DuMoulin blazed trails
and pushed against barriers, never tak- ing no for an answer. With assignments including Korea and Germany, she left her mark. POWER UP recently sat down with
DuMoulin to learn how it all began and what she witnessed along the way.
POWER UP: When did you join the army? DuMoulin: After earning my master’s degree in 1969, I became a recreational director in Korea for three years. Then, in 1972, I decided to join the US Army as a civilian member of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). We hadn’t merged serv- ing with the men yet, and they didn’t even have trousers for us. We had to run around in skirts, and we were always ironing them, which was a pain. But then I heard rumblings of the
aviation fields opening up to women. So, I thought, well, that would be cool. You know, rather than just sitting
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behind a desk. I was a farm kid. I grew up on a ranch, picking pears and apples and shoveling out the barn. I checked all the services. I didn’t
want to join the navy, because I get seasick. The Marines weren’t doing anything with women yet. The air force saw I had a master’s degree in art and told me they wanted someone with engineering training. They didn’t realize I had a really high mechanical ability that had been untapped because I was a woman. The army said the same thing, but I asked if there was anything that said I couldn’t take the aptitude test. Well, I did take the test, and I did OK on it. So, I decided to join the army. It was
a very simple transition for me. It was the same uniform [as in the WAC], but this time I wore a rank and saluted. There was a lot I didn’t know because my dad didn’t let me turn a screwdriver, and all of a sudden, I was thrust into this world of repairing helicopters. Well, I learned, and I found out I had an apti- tude for mechanics.
So, your first official job as a female officer was helicopter maintenance officer and helicopter maintenance test pilot? Yes. When I started flight school, I chose the [US Army] Transportation
Corps. They were very good to me, and they ran the maintenance test pilot school. They said, “Guess what? You’re taking the test pilot course.” I said, “Wait a minute. Let me learn how to fly this thing first.” They said it was their career path, so if I didn’t like it, they didn’t have a use for me. So, I went. It was a natural fit for me. I loved it.
I was learning helicopter maintenance and how to fly at the same time. I wasn’t good with math, but I was sure good at diagnosing stuff. That’s how I became the army’s first female heli- copter maintenance test pilot. I also became the first female Cobra pilot and OH-58 pilot because I had to fix those aircraft a lot too. Oh, that Cobra was a piece of work.
It was wonderful to fly. You could bank and roll it and do all kinds of stuff. The guys used to call me “chicken neck” because I’d be looking over the top of it as hard as I could, so they’d see my big old helmet and my skinny little neck.
Did you spend your entire army career as a maintenance test pilot? No. When I finished up in aviation, I was an aviation company commander. I was the first woman since World War II to have an aviation command in any of the services—army, navy, air force, or Marines. Then I went on to do public
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