Although less known, on August 18, 1978, Airmen First Class Tina M. Ponzer became the first female enlisted crewmember to go on alert. It was one month later that Lieutenant Fornes followed in Airman Ponzer’s footsteps.
Fornes and Ponzer were part of a class of forty female officers and enlisted volunteers selected by a panel of experienced missile operators to undergo Titan II crew training in 1978. Each trainee received over five months of instruction on combat crew and upgrade training before they could serve on alert duty.
On June 17, 1993, Lieutenant Colonel Fornes set another milestone when she became the first female missile squadron commander after she assumed command of the 740th Missile Squadron at Minot AFB, North Dakota. Ironically, her father Lieutenant Colonel Glen Fornes had commanded that same squadron 24 years before.
(Ponzer, left; Fornes. right, USAF Image)