Helicopter pilot becomes 1st female Marine to pilot F-35 jet

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Capt. Anneliese Satz conducts pre-flight checks prior to a training flight aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, March 11. Satz graduated the F-35B Lighting II Pilot Training Program June and will be assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 in Iwakuni, Japan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ashley Phillips)

BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) - A former commercial helicopter pilot has become the first female Marine to pilot the F-35, a next-generation joint strike fighter aircraft.

The Island Packet reports Capt. Anneliese Satz completed her fighter jet training this summer at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Satz trained in Mississippi, Florida and Texas over the past four years before arriving in Beaufort last summer to train in the F-35B Lightning II. A station statement says Satz's aircraft is a supersonic stealth vessel designed to operate from short-field bases and near front-line combat zones.

The statement says the 29-year-old Satz credits her history as a commercial helicopter pilot as what prepared her for a career in military aviation. She's now headed to Iwakuni, Japan, to join a unit called the Green Knights.