Join us for a one-of-a-kind event, Shatter the Sky: Women in Military Aviation.

Celebrate International Women in Aviation and Women’s History Month on March 12, 2022! Discover and explore the stories of women who took to the sky and made history while serving our nation: Col. (Ret.) Merryl Tengesdal, Col. (Ret.) Eileen Bjorkman, Former Capt. Shannon Huffman Polson, Former Capt. Graciela Tiscareno-Sato and one virtual appearance by Former Capt. Vernice Armour.

Each woman will proudly share HERstory with aviation enthusiasts, host a live Q&A session with the audience and offer audience members the chance to meet each pilot, all of whom are authors and will have their books on site for purchase and autographs.

The event is a special collabHERations with Freedom Sisters Media and will be emceed by the company’s founder, Kerri Jeter — Hope to see you there!

FREE with Museum admission.
Join us in-person Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2:00 PM in the William M. Allen Theater!

Prefer to join us virtually?
Click the link below shortly before 2:00 PM on Saturday, March 12 to watch live.

Watch the Shatter the Sky Livestream Here

Panelists:

• Col. (Ret.) Merryl Tengesdal
  Merryl Tengesdal is the first and only African American woman to fly the U. S. Air Force U-2 Aircraft. She is a retired Colonel with over 23 years of aviation and leadership experience in both the Navy and Air Force.She has always had a passion for fitness to maintain peak physical conditioning for the physiological challenges encountered in flight. Now she leverages her fitness knowledge and military experience to help others achieve their own personal goals.She is a NASM & AFAA Certified Personal Trainer with specializations in Corrective Exercise and Fitness Nutrition. No matter what she is doing, she is committed to inspire, uplift and bring positivity to the situation.
• Col. (Ret.) Eileen Bjorkman
  Eileen loves all things aviation, with a particular passion for military and homebuilt aircraft. She is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel with 700+ hours of flying time as a flight test engineer in 25 different types of military aircraft, primarily the F-4, F-16, C-130, and C-141. As a civilian pilot, she holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating and is a Certificated Flight Instructor with more than 2,000 hours of flying time. She owns an aerobatic airplane, a Decathlon. When she’s not writing or researching, she can usually be found doing some sort of outside activity, especially anything involving an airplane!
• Former Capt. Shannon Huffman Polson
  After a childhood in Alaska, she studied English literature and art history at Duke University. At graduation she was commissioned as a 2LT in Army Aviation and became one of the first women to fly Apache helicopters, serving on three continents and leading two flight platoons and a line company. Devoted to leadership and building up leaders, Shannon launched The Grit Institute.She is a devoted mom and wife creating impact, adventure and opportunity for others.
• Former Capt. Graciela Tiscareno-Sato
  Graciela Tiscareño-Sato is a highly-decorated military veteran, bilingual STEM Consultant to K-12 school districts and a sought-after speaker on environmental entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation and the Latino educational crisis and solutions. Graciela Tiscareño-Sato is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, School of Environmental Design, where she earned a degree in Environmental Design/Architecture while completing the Aerospace Studies program as an AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officer Training Program) scholarship cadet. She was commissioned as a Distinguished Graduate and second lieutenant atop the Campanile on the Berkeley campus. After Berkeley, she joined the active-duty Air Force and completed Undergraduate Navigator Training at Mather Air Force Base (AFB) in Sacramento. She graduated in the top 15% of her class of 25 students as the only woman in the class. She then trained in the KC-135R refueling tanker at Castle AFB in California before reporting into the 43rd Air Refueling Squadron at Fairchild AFB in Spokane, Washington.
• Former Capt. Vernice Armour
  FlyGirl is all about motivation and being gutsy in life, with a energy and gusto that has propelled her career in and out of the military.Vernice was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps on December 12, 1998, and on her way to flight school. When Vernice finally earned her wings in July 2001, the ambitious pilot ranked No. 1 out of both her class of 12 and of the last 200 to graduate. She made the Naval Air Station’s prestigious Commodore’s List, received the Academic Achievement Award, was the top graduate in her class, and went on to make history as the Marine Corps’ first African American female pilot.

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