PIONEERING WOMEN IN BLUE UNIFORMS: AVIAS, ENGINEERS, AND INTENDANTS

Abstract

This article deals with the historical and legal process regarding the inclusion of women in the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in the most diverse positions, based on the insertion of women in the Air Force Academy (AFA), the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and at the Air Cadet Preparatory School (EPCAR). The main objective of this work is to show the importance of this achievement for women who aspire to dedicate themselves to the art of flying and militarism, in the Air Force Command (COMAER).  The article is based on primary documents obtained from the Air Force's institutional archives, secondary sources and used the methodology of historical analysis and the method of oral history through oral interviews with graduates of the three educational institutions and relies on documentary research and bibliographical. The research inquires into how the process of inclusion of women occurred in a sector considered largely male dominated. This work shows that the inclusion of women in the military ranks of the FAB is an important step towards female conquest in a sector of society occupied only by men. In this way, we prove the paradigm shift that has occurred in the sector through the inclusion of women in the most varied positions: fighter, transport, helicopter and patrol aviators, quartermasters and engineers. The first women to join the Air Force Command overcame challenges and reaffirmed the Brazilian Air Force's pioneering role in the inclusion.