Obama picks first woman non-pilot to head Air Force in Pacific

Air Force Lt. Gen. Lori J. Robinson will be replacing a veteran pilot who is moving on to another post

Her appointment reportedly comes amid a push for diversity in higher ranks of the military

Trailblazer: Air Force Lt. Gen. Lori J. Robinson has been nominated to become the first female non-pilot commander of the Air Force in the Pacific

A female general who has never piloted a military aircraft has been nominated by US President Barack Obama to head the Air Force in the Pacific.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Lori J. Robinson was nominated by the president for a fourth star and to be commanding general of the military branch’s Pacific operations.

If confirmed, she will be the first four-star female commander of combat forces, the Pentagon announced. But many wonder if her lack of experience in the air puts US forces on a highway to the danger zone.

‘You make operational decisions that require the understanding of what you are going to ask pilots to execute in combat where the wrong decisions mean the difference between life and death,’ a retired pilot told the Washington Times.

‘Now her vice commander and director of operations will be rated fighter pilots, but still she makes the decisions.’

Despite her lack of experience behind the controls, she is currently the vice commander of Air Force Combat Command – which is in charge of bomber and fighter jets.

Her time in this capacity was used as defense by the Pentagon for her nomination.

‘The Air Force operates across three domains: air, space and cyberspace and provides capability and capacity in five core mission areas: Air and Space Superiority, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Rapid Global Mobility, Global Strike and Command and Control,’ spokesperson Rose Richardson told the paper.

‘Lt. Gen. Robinson has demonstrated knowledge and experience across the entire spectrum of these mission areas as well as recent operational application supporting coalition activities for United States Central Command.’

Still, she would be replacing General Herbert Carlisle, a career pilot moving on to become the new commander of the Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, according to Stars and Stripes.

Her appointment comes amid an effort from the Pentagon to diversify the higher ranks of the military amid a series of rape and sexual misconduct scandals in the nation’s armed services, according to the Times.

Only 85 out of the more than 3,700 active duty fighter pilots in the U.S. military are women, according to federal statistics.