Martha McSally

Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American politician and former military pilot who has represented Arizona in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

McSally was born in 1966 in Warwick, Rhode Island, the youngest of five children.

When McSally was 12 years of age, her father, attorney Bernard McSally, died suddenly due to a massive heart attack.

Her mother, Eleanor McSally (Taft), worked as a reading specialist to support the family.

McSally was the valedictorian at St. Mary Academy – Bay View in 1984.

McSally served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 2010, achieving the rank of colonel.

She is the first U.S. woman to fly in combat and also the first to command a fighter squadron.

McSally earned an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1988 with a B.S. in Biology.

She then earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and proceeded to pilot training.

McSally earned her USAF pilot's wings in 1991 after completing Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base east of Phoenix.

Following graduation, she was assigned to Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot in the T-37 trainer.

McSally went on to Lead-in Fighter Training in 1993.

McSally then completed Replacement Training Unit for the A-10 Thunderbolt II at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base and was assigned to an operational A-10 squadron that deployed to Kuwait in January 1995.

During this deployment, she flew combat patrol over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq and becoming "the first female U.S. fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron."

In 1999, McSally deployed to Europe in support of Operation Allied Force.

She was selected as one of seven active-duty Air Force officers for the Legislative Fellowship Program.

She lived in Washington, D.C., working as a national security advisor to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

In 2001, McSally successfully sued the United States Department of Defense in McSally v. Rumsfeld, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and UK servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.

McSally was represented by The Rutherford Institute in McSally v. Rumsfeld, a successful 2001 lawsuit against the Department of Defense, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and U.K. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.

At the time of the lawsuit McSally, as a major (O-4), was the highest ranking female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Her suit alleged "the regulations required her to send the message that she believes women are subservient to men."

In a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on CBS on January 20, 2002, she described the discrimination she experienced under the policy:"'I have to sit in the back and at all times I must be escorted by a male ... [who], when questioned, is supposed to claim me as his wife,' she said. 'I can fly a single-seat aircraft in enemy territory, but [in Saudi Arabia] I can't drive a vehicle."

General Tommy Franks, then commander of the United States Central Command, announced in 2002 that U.S. military servicewomen would no longer be required to wear the abaya, although they would be "encouraged" to do so as a show of respect for local customs.

Commenting on the change, Central Command spokesman Colonel Rick Thomas said it was not made because of McSally's lawsuit but had already been "under review" before the lawsuit was filed.

McSally had been working to change the policy for several years and had filed the lawsuit after she had been threatened with a court martial if she did not comply.

McSally took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in July 2004.

She was subsequently deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

In 2006, McSally's squadron won the David C. Shilling Award, given by the Air Force Association "for the most outstanding contribution in the field of flight".

A member of the Republican Party, McSally ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, but was unsuccessful.

She was elected to the House in 2014 and represented Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

McSally opposed and voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and supported the unsuccessful attempt to pass American Health Care Act of 2017.

McSally was the Republican nominee in Arizona's 2018 U.S. Senate election, losing to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

After interim Senator Jon Kyl resigned from the state's other Senate seat (to which he had been appointed following the death of longtime Senator John McCain), Governor Doug Ducey appointed McSally to replace Kyl.

Though criticizing Obama's use of executive action to create it, she supported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals until 2018 and expressed concern about President Donald Trump's travel ban and the family separation policy.

During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in April 2018, McSally alleged her track and field coach pressured her into a sexual relationship during her senior year at the Catholic girls' school.

She said that the coach used "emotional manipulation" to keep her compliant.

She did not reveal the incident to friends or family until ten years after her graduation.

In 2020, a special election was held to determine who would serve the remainder of McCain's unexpired Senate term; McSally was defeated by Democratic nominee Mark Kelly.

McSally opposes same-sex marriage and opposes abortion in "nearly all cases", asserting that both issues should be decided at the state level.

She advocates increased military spending.