ENS Joellen Drag, the Navy’s first female helicopter pilot, in the cockpit of a CH-46 on the HC-3 flight line on NAS North Island in May of 1974. At the time, women were not allowed to hover over the flight deck of a seagoing ship, let alone land. Failing to get permission through her proper chain of command, Drag pursued additional avenues. In 1977 she was part of a successful class action lawsuit against the Navy. In the fall of 1978, Congress drafted new legislation allowing women to be assigned to shipboard billets. Joellen Drag-Oslund went on to have a successful career with the Navy, eventually retiring as a Captain.
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