UAE female fighter pilot happy to defend her country

September 26, 2014
Mariah Timms
News Writer
World News

Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri, the UAE’s first female fighter pilot, led an important strike mission last week as part of that country’s armed response to IS. Al Mansoori, 35, graduated from the Emirates’ Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 2007, when it was first open to women. She is just one of the pilots involved in the airstrikes over Syria as part of the U.S.-led coalition that includes many Arab nations. Al Mansouri just wants to defend her country, she said in an interview to CNN, and sees no difference between men and women in the ability to do that. “When the time will come, everybody will jump in,” she said. The Emirati pilot has gained attention online, seen by some as a symbol of moderate Islam.