Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Deal Burrow,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, is the first female Marine who selected for Naval aviation training in 1993, and subsequently became the Marine Corps' first female aviator in 1995.

Early life

Sarah Deal was born to Richard and Marjorie Deal, in

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan ...

on 14 September 1969. The daughter of a Marine, she grew up in

Pemberville, Ohio Pemberville is a village located on the banks of the Portage River in Wood County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,371 at the 2010 census. History Pemberville was platted in 1854, and named for James Pember, a first settler. An early v ...

. She was an athlete, participating in cross country, track and basketball, as well as 4H and her church youth group. She also worked on a dairy farm and raised one pig a year she would sell at auction. Deal earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in aerospace flight technology from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...

in 1992.

Military career

Deal was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in May 1992. Though she had already earned her pilot's license while in college, the Marine Corps did not yet have any female aviators. After

The Basic School The Basic School (TBS) is where all newly commissioned and appointed (for warrant officers) United States Marine Corps officers are taught the basics of being an "Officer of Marines". The Basic School is located at Camp Barrett, Quantico, Vi ...

in Quantico, she attended

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

school. When U.S. military policy was changed to allow women to fly combat aircraft in 1993, Deal requested to become an aviator. She was selected for training in July 1993. She began her flight training at

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

in the

T-34C Turbo Mentor The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is an American propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The earlier versions of the T-34, dating from around the late 1940s to the 1950s, were piston ...

aircraft. She went on to helicopter training in the TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter and earned her aviator's wings on April 21, 1995. Deal was assigned to

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466 (HMH-466) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopters. The squadron, known as the "Wolfpack", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, ...

as a

CH-53E The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

pilot. Deal completed her active duty service in 2004 and transferred to the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. It is the largest command, by assigned p ...

. In May 2006, Deal was assigned to

HMH-769 Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 769 (HMH-769) was a United States Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter squadron. Nicknamed "Titan", the squadron was based at Edwards Air Force Base, California and fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 46 (MAG ...

where she served as a reserve CH-53E pilot. In 2009, Deal deployed to Afghanistan with

Marine Aircraft Group 40 Marine Aircraft Group 40 is a composite United States Marine Corps aviation unit that is based in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009. They served as the aviation combat element for 2nd Marine Expedition ...

, supporting the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade during Operation Enduring Freedom. As of July 2016, she was a LtCol serving in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Personal life

Deal is married to Philip M. Burrow, a former

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...

pilot she met while in flight school. They are the parents of twins Troy and Brandon Burrow and Eric Burrow.

Honors

Deal was inducted into the

Ohio Women's Hall of Fame The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was a program the State of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives and online records were transferred to the ...

in 1999.

References

External links