Kelly Flinn: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
VisualWikitext
imported>GreenC bot
 
imported>JDDJS
No edit summary
 
Line 20: Line 20:
'''Kelly Flinn''' (whose surname was sometimes misspelled as '''Flynn''';  born December 23, 1970) is a former [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] pilot in the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF).  She was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity.<ref name=sindy>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/female-b52-pilot-quits-over-charges-of-adultery-1262385.html|title=Female B-52 pilot quits over charges of adultery|last=Dejevsky |first=Mary|date=May 19, 1997|journal=[[The Independent on Sunday]]|location=London, UK}}</ref>
'''Kelly Flinn''' (whose surname was sometimes misspelled as '''Flynn''';  born December 23, 1970) is a former [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] pilot in the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF).  She was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity.<ref name=sindy>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/female-b52-pilot-quits-over-charges-of-adultery-1262385.html|title=Female B-52 pilot quits over charges of adultery|last=Dejevsky |first=Mary|date=May 19, 1997|journal=[[The Independent on Sunday]]|location=London, UK}}</ref>


She was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 after an adulterous affair with the husband of an enlisted subordinate, for military offenses including disobeying a direct order from her commanding officer to break off the affair, and for twice lying under oath to investigators about having done so.<ref name=BSun>{{Cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/05/24/end-to-messy-case-kelly-flinn-general-discharge-for-air-force-lieutenant-is-wise-resolution/ |date=May 24, 1997 |title=End to messy case Kelly Flinn: General discharge for Air Force lieutenant is wise resolution |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=November 20, 2015}}</ref><ref name=NYT2>{{Cite news |date=May 11, 1997 |first=Elaine |last=Sciolino |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/14/home/airwoman-court-martial.html |title=From a Love Affair to a Court-Martial |newspaper=[[New York Times]] }}</ref><ref name=CNN>{{cite news |first1=Jamie |last1=McIntyre |first2=Jeff |last2=Flock |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/22/flinn.wrap |title=Air Force gives pilot a general discharge |date=May 22, 1997 |publisher=[[CNN]] }}</ref><ref name=Flirting>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLmrGAVy7vgC&q=kelly+flinn+-wikipedia+graduate+%22Air+Force%22&pg=PA314|title=Women in the military: flirting with disaster|author=Mitchell, Brian P.|publisher=Regnery Publishing | year=1998|isbn=0-89526-376-9|pages=314–15}}</ref><ref name=AmAviation>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ccymjJZxLcC&q=kelly+flinn+-wikipedia+graduate+%22Air+Force%22&pg=PA404|page=404|title=The American aviation experience: a history|author= Brady, Tim|publisher=SIU Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8093-2371-0}}</ref><ref name=NYT3>{{Cite news |first=Elaine |last=Sciolino |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/14/home/052297airforce-pilot.html |date=December 14, 1997 |title=Air Force Chief Has Harsh Words for Pilot Facing Adultery Charges |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref><ref name=PhillyInq>{{Cite news |url=http://articles.philly.com/1997-02-22/news/25533109_1_flinn-adultery-charge-air-force-news-service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114111834/http://articles.philly.com/1997-02-22/news/25533109_1_flinn-adultery-charge-air-force-news-service |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |title=Adultery Charge For Female Pilot First Lt. Kelly J. Flinn Is Accused Of Other Offenses. She's The Air Force's Only Woman Flying B-52s. |first=Michael E. |last=Ruane
She was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 after an adulterous affair with the husband of an enlisted subordinate, for military offenses including disobeying a direct order from her commanding officer to break off the affair, and for twice lying under oath to investigators about having done so.<ref name=Flirting>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLmrGAVy7vgC&q=kelly+flinn+-wikipedia+graduate+%22Air+Force%22&pg=PA314|title=Women in the military: flirting with disaster|author=Mitchell, Brian P.|publisher=Regnery Publishing | year=1998|isbn=0-89526-376-9|pages=314–15}}</ref><ref name=AmAviation>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ccymjJZxLcC&q=kelly+flinn+-wikipedia+graduate+%22Air+Force%22&pg=PA404|page=404|title=The American aviation experience: a history|author= Brady, Tim|publisher=SIU Press|year=2000|isbn=0-8093-2371-0}}</ref><ref name=SFGate>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Embarrassed-Air-Force-Ready-for-Court-Martial-2839697.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|title=Travis Pilot a No-Show for Hearing/Captain wants to resign after admitting adultery|date=May 16, 1997}}</ref>
|date=February 22, 1997 |newspaper=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]] }}</ref><ref name=SFGate>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Embarrassed-Air-Force-Ready-for-Court-Martial-2839697.php|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|title=Travis Pilot a No-Show for Hearing/Captain wants to resign after admitting adultery|date=May 16, 1997}}</ref><ref name=LATimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-22-mn-61313-story.html|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|first=Norman|last=Kempster|title=Lying, Not Adultery, Is Female Pilot's Top Crime, AF Says|date=May 22, 1997}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=August 2023}}


The scandal received widespread media attention at the time and was discussed in a U.S. Senate hearing on May 22, 1997.<ref name="BSun" />
The scandal received widespread media attention at the time and was discussed in a U.S. Senate hearing on May 22, 1997.<ref name="BSun">{{Cite news |date=May 24, 1997 |title=End to messy case Kelly Flinn: General discharge for Air Force lieutenant is wise resolution |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1997/05/24/end-to-messy-case-kelly-flinn-general-discharge-for-air-force-lieutenant-is-wise-resolution/ |access-date=November 20, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]}}</ref>
Kelly Flinn worked as a commercial pilot for [[Trans World Airlines]] after leaving the Air Force.{{cn|date=October 2018}}
Kelly Flinn worked as a commercial pilot for [[Trans World Airlines]] after leaving the Air Force.{{cn|date=October 2018}}


==Background==
==Background==
Flinn was born in [[St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref name=PhillyInq/> the youngest of five children.<ref name=NYT2/> She decided to become a pilot after attending [[United States Space Camp|Space Camp]] in [[Huntsville, Alabama]].<ref name=PhillyInq/> She attended the [[United States Air Force Academy|U.S. Air Force Academy]], undergraduate pilot training, and follow-on B-52 bomber training, becoming the first female B-52 pilot in the USAF.<ref name=sindy/>
Flinn was born in [[St. Louis, Missouri]],<ref name="PhillyInq">{{Cite news |last=Ruane |first=Michael E. |date=February 22, 1997 |title=Adultery Charge For Female Pilot First Lt. Kelly J. Flinn Is Accused Of Other Offenses. She's The Air Force's Only Woman Flying B-52s. |url=http://articles.philly.com/1997-02-22/news/25533109_1_flinn-adultery-charge-air-force-news-service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114111834/http://articles.philly.com/1997-02-22/news/25533109_1_flinn-adultery-charge-air-force-news-service |archive-date=November 14, 2013 |newspaper=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]]}}</ref> the youngest of five children.<ref name="NYT2">{{Cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |date=May 11, 1997 |title=From a Love Affair to a Court-Martial |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/14/home/airwoman-court-martial.html |newspaper=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> She decided to become a pilot after attending [[United States Space Camp|Space Camp]] in [[Huntsville, Alabama]].<ref name=PhillyInq/> She attended the [[United States Air Force Academy|U.S. Air Force Academy]], undergraduate pilot training, and follow-on B-52 bomber training, becoming the first female B-52 pilot in the USAF.<ref name=sindy/>


==Charges, media coverage, and disposition==
==Charges, media coverage, and disposition==
On May 20, 1997, following an adulterous affair with a civilian soccer coach at [[Minot Air Force Base]] who was married to a female enlisted subordinate in her chain of command, Flinn was charged by the military with conduct unbecoming an officer, disobeying a lawful order (in writing, to stay away from the married man), making a false official statement in which she lied under oath to Air Force investigators, falsely telling them she had ended the affair,<ref name=NYT2/><ref name=CNN/><ref name=Flirting/><ref name=NYT3/><ref name=PhillyInq/><ref name=SFGate/><ref name=LATimes/>{{Excessive citations inline|date=August 2023}} and fraternization (for an additional affair that she had with an enlisted man).<ref>{{cite news|title=Wronged ex-wife urges no mercy for B-52 pilot|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/21/flinn.wrap/index.html|accessdate=20 July 2016|publisher=CNN|date=May 21, 1997}}</ref>
On May 20, 1997, following an adulterous affair with a civilian soccer coach at [[Minot Air Force Base]] who was married to a female enlisted subordinate in her chain of command, Flinn was charged by the military with conduct unbecoming an officer, disobeying a lawful order (in writing, to stay away from the married man), making a false official statement in which she lied under oath to Air Force investigators, falsely telling them she had ended the affair,<ref name=NYT2/><ref name="CNN">{{cite news |last1=McIntyre |first1=Jamie |last2=Flock |first2=Jeff |date=May 22, 1997 |title=Air Force gives pilot a general discharge |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/22/flinn.wrap |publisher=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref name=Flirting/><ref name="NYT3">{{Cite news |last=Sciolino |first=Elaine |date=December 14, 1997 |title=Air Force Chief Has Harsh Words for Pilot Facing Adultery Charges |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/14/home/052297airforce-pilot.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name=PhillyInq/><ref name=SFGate/><ref name="LATimes">{{cite news |last=Kempster |first=Norman |date=May 22, 1997 |title=Lying, Not Adultery, Is Female Pilot's Top Crime, AF Says |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-22-mn-61313-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=August 2023}} and fraternization (for an additional affair that she had with an enlisted man).<ref>{{cite news|title=Wronged ex-wife urges no mercy for B-52 pilot|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/21/flinn.wrap/index.html|accessdate=20 July 2016|publisher=CNN|date=May 21, 1997}}</ref>


Flinn's case, due in part to her high visibility in Air Force recruitment advertisements, drew national attention, eventually creating a media circus.  The [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]], General [[Ronald Fogleman]], testified at a congressional hearing that, "In the end, this is not an issue of adultery. This is an issue about an officer, entrusted to fly nuclear weapons, who lied."<ref name=LATimes/> The media, however, largely treated the case as though Flinn were being tried by the military for the crime of [[adultery]], and castigated the Air Force for allegedly firing her on moral grounds; a ''New York Times'' editorial on the case emphasized the adultery, rather than the actual military charges with which she was charged, and blamed the military's "antiquated adultery rules and their consistency in administering them, as well as their management training."<ref name=NYTeditorial>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/23/opinion/the-discharge-of-kelly-flinn.html?scp=1&sq=Kelly+Flinn&st=nyt|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=The Discharge of Kelly Flinn|date=May 23, 1997}}</ref>
Flinn's case, due in part to her high visibility in Air Force recruitment advertisements, drew national attention, eventually creating a media circus.  The [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]], General [[Ronald Fogleman]], testified at a congressional hearing that, "In the end, this is not an issue of adultery. This is an issue about an officer, entrusted to fly nuclear weapons, who lied."<ref name=LATimes/> The media, however, largely treated the case as though Flinn were being tried by the military for the crime of [[adultery]], and castigated the Air Force for allegedly firing her on moral grounds; a ''New York Times'' editorial on the case emphasized the adultery, rather than the actual military charges with which she was charged, and blamed the military's "antiquated adultery rules and their consistency in administering them, as well as their management training."<ref name=NYTeditorial>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/23/opinion/the-discharge-of-kelly-flinn.html?scp=1&sq=Kelly+Flinn&st=nyt|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=The Discharge of Kelly Flinn|date=May 23, 1997}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 04:40, 8 August 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Kelly Flinn (whose surname was sometimes misspelled as Flynn; born December 23, 1970) is a former B-52 pilot in the United States Air Force (USAF). She was the first female pilot to serve in that capacity.[1]

She was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 1997 after an adulterous affair with the husband of an enlisted subordinate, for military offenses including disobeying a direct order from her commanding officer to break off the affair, and for twice lying under oath to investigators about having done so.[2][3][4]

The scandal received widespread media attention at the time and was discussed in a U.S. Senate hearing on May 22, 1997.[5] Kelly Flinn worked as a commercial pilot for Trans World Airlines after leaving the Air Force.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Background

Flinn was born in St. Louis, Missouri,[6] the youngest of five children.[7] She decided to become a pilot after attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.[6] She attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, undergraduate pilot training, and follow-on B-52 bomber training, becoming the first female B-52 pilot in the USAF.[1]

Charges, media coverage, and disposition

On May 20, 1997, following an adulterous affair with a civilian soccer coach at Minot Air Force Base who was married to a female enlisted subordinate in her chain of command, Flinn was charged by the military with conduct unbecoming an officer, disobeying a lawful order (in writing, to stay away from the married man), making a false official statement in which she lied under oath to Air Force investigators, falsely telling them she had ended the affair,[7][8][2][9][6][4][10]Template:Excessive citations inline and fraternization (for an additional affair that she had with an enlisted man).[11]

Flinn's case, due in part to her high visibility in Air Force recruitment advertisements, drew national attention, eventually creating a media circus. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Ronald Fogleman, testified at a congressional hearing that, "In the end, this is not an issue of adultery. This is an issue about an officer, entrusted to fly nuclear weapons, who lied."[10] The media, however, largely treated the case as though Flinn were being tried by the military for the crime of adultery, and castigated the Air Force for allegedly firing her on moral grounds; a New York Times editorial on the case emphasized the adultery, rather than the actual military charges with which she was charged, and blamed the military's "antiquated adultery rules and their consistency in administering them, as well as their management training."[12]

Following the media outcry, Flinn was allowed to resign from the Air Force by Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall with a general discharge instead of facing a court-martial.[5][8][2][3] She later wrote a book recounting her experiences, entitled Proud to Be: My Life, the Air Force, the Controversy (Template:ISBN; Template:ISBN).

See also

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Kelly_Flinn&oldid=5121846"