Proud To Be: My Life, The Air Force, The Controversy

by Kelly Flinn

An extraordinary young woman. An extraordinary controversy. This is Kelly Flinn's story—the one she couldn't tell when she was in uniform.

"I fell in love with the wrong man."—Kelly Flinn

She is the first woman to pilot a B-52, a charismatic twenty-six-year-old from a proper Georgia family who has always distinguished herself—as a fifteen- year-old at U.S. Space Camp and as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy. There, she overcame considerable odds and earned a coveted position as a combat pilot. But nothing prepared Lieutenant Kelly Flinn for the controversy that erupted when the military began an investigation into her relationship with Marc Zigo, a man who lied to her about his marital status and then betrayed her to military authorities. Flinn was forced to resign amid charges of disobeying orders—charges she disputes in this poignant and powerful memoir.

This is the story of Flinn's love affair with flying . . . and the love affair that ended her trailblazing Air Force career. This is also the story of a determined young woman fighting for her rightful place in a military establishment run by men, many of whom are not yet ready to accept a female combat pilot. Flinn reveals examples of hypocrisy and sexism in the military that are, by any standard, infuriating. She rose higher and fell harder, but Kelly Flinn's story is universal, and it powerfully dramatizes the fault lines between our private and professional lives. With disarming candor, Flinn takes us inside her world. We feel her exhilaration as she soars through the sky and commands her own plane,and we share her horror as the love she dreamed of turns into a nightmare and shemust battle the military's sex police behind closed doors. Kelly Flinn has been called "the Hester Prynne of our time," and her life has been depicted in the media as a combination of Top Gun and The Scarlet Letter.

In Proud to Be, she speaks in her own voice—determined, vulnerable, and all too human.

Genres: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

259 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 1997

About the author

Kelly Flinn is a former United States Air Force B-52 pilot and was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Biography of Air Force Academy cadet and then US Air Force Pilot.
Many shared experiences. good perspective.

[Sue Boros · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should've remembered the news.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always thought the military was pretty insane (with a respectful nod to my brother), but even more so if you're a woman in a man's world. This book, about the first female bomber pilot, is very interesting so far. I could never have stuck it out if I was her! She's not a writer, and sometimes the unsophisticated writing style bothers me (literature this is not) but most of the time it just makes it seem like you're sitting with Kelly listening to her tell her story. It is clearly *her* side of the story, which she acknowledges at the outset, and I sometimes wonder how skewed her perspective is. I'm pretty sure a male member of the Air Force reading it would be rolling his eyes and dismissing much of her account, but I'm trying to just take it at face value. If nothing else, I learned something about the B-52 that my husband didn't know... that was exciting.

[Pamela Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to my mother (an enlisted Air Force WAF in the 1950's) to help celebrate the success of women in the military. But I hardly think my mother would have enjoyed it! (I don't think she ever read it!) My mother loved the Air Force and everything it gave her - her husband, her three children, her patriotism! Kelly Flinn's story is very negative against the "boy's club" mentality for good reason! Why the difference? 40 years later you would have thought Kelly's experience much easier than the ladies (enlisted) that went before her! It was a different generation with different morale expectations. I hope that the Air Force and other branches of the military have opened their eyes and offer sensitivity and relationship training along side flying aircraft training! My wish......

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very interesting to hear another female's perspective of life as a flyer. If the account is as truthful as other parts of the book- i really do feel sorry for her. An interesting read for females in the AF and especially flyers.