Caroline Aigle
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Commandant Caroline Aigle (12 September 1974—21 August 2007) was a French aviatrix who achieved a historical first when, at the age of 25, she became the first woman fighter pilot in the French Air Force. Her promising military career was cut short by death from cancer seven years later.
Born in Montauban, Caroline Aigle spent her early years in Africa, where her father served as a military physician. After reaching her fourteenth birthday, she matriculated at the Lycée militaire de Saint-Cyr (Saint-Cyr Military Academy), remaining for the three-year period from the second term until graduation. She subsequently proceeded to Prytanée Militaire, an advanced military high school, and then to the military academy wing of the prestigious École Polytechnique, France's foremost school of engineering. During her first year (1994-95), she fulfilled the requirements of her military duty while stationed with the 13th Battalion of the elite mountain infantry, the Chasseurs Alpins. She served her final year before graduation from the Polytechnique (1996-97) in the officer school (École de l'air) of the Armée de l'air (French Air Force).
Upon receiving her degree, Caroline Aigle ("aigle" means "eagle" in French) chose to make her career in the French Air Force. Almost from the start, she provided illustration of her top competitive skills as a sportswoman by becoming the 1997 French military champion in triathlon, followed by the 1997 triathlon world championship in military team competition. Still competing in 1999, she and her team won the triathlon world military vice-championship. She was also a top skydiver and free-fall parachutist. On 28 May 1999, she became the first woman to receive the Air Force's coveted fighter pilot wings. She was assigned to the Mirage 2000-5 in the escadron 2/2 Côte-d'Or in 2000, and promoted to the rank of Commandant (Major) in 2005. Among the top candidates, she was also on the verge of being selected as an astronaut for the European Space Agency. By the time of her sudden death three weeks before her 33rd birthday (the cancer, a melanoma, had been diagnosed only a month earlier), she had accumulated a total of 1600 hours of flight time.
Caroline Aigle and Christophe "Douky" Deketelaere (born 27 September 1964), a pilot and deputy leader of the Breitling jet team, were the parents of two children, sons Marc and Gabriel. She was pregnant with Gabriel when the malignancy was first discovered, and refused to undergo an abortion despite the increased difficulty in cancer treatment options. Gabriel was delivered by caesarian section, five-and-a half months into term, fifteen days before her death. On 2 October 2007, President Sarkozy awarded her a posthumous Médaille de l'Aéronautique (Aeronautics Medal).
[edit] References
- A brief magazine interview {in French} with Caroline Aigle
- Caroline Aigle biographical details {in French}
- Caroline Aigle identity card {in French} with date and place of birth
- Announcement {in French} of the birth of Caroline Aigle's and "Douky" Deketelaere's son Marc on 12 July 2005
- Text of the eulogy delivered at Caroline Aigle's funeral mass (in French)
