3rd Woman to Attempt Air Force Battlefield Training

ORLANDO, Florida -- An enlisted woman in basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, plans to begin tactical air control party, or TACP, training in the next few months, the head of Air Education and Training Command said Friday.

"So when she graduates BMT, she'll start training right away for that," Lt. Gen. Darryl Roberson told reporters during a media roundtable at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium here.

Since the Defense Department opened battle career fields to women last year, two female airmen have qualified and entered TACP training. But neither completed the program. One sustained an injury; the other determined the career field wasn't the path for her, the general said.

TACPs perform a critical job on the battlefield, with airmen assigned to infantry units to coordinate Air Force fixed-wing aircraft in close-air support against enemy targets.

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