“Bring Me Men…” Brought Women

On June 28, 1976, into the all-male bastion of the United States Air Force Academy 157 women stepped, challenging the slogan over the entrance ramp that read “Bring Me Men.” These women inspired an upheaval of change in this tradition-bound military school. Their journey was one of survival in a male-dominated environment, where they struggled to find balance on a seesaw of ingrained gender discrimination and undesired special privileges.
This book tells the story of the first female cadets in the United States Air Force Academy, and their fight to make a permanent place for themselves there. Chapters explore their struggle to be accepted, the difficulties of the training environment, the camaraderie and conflict with men and the hardships and joys of those who marched in the ranks of that first co-ed class.

Kathleen Utley Kornahrens is one of only 97 women who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy’s first co-ed class in 1980. She served in the active-duty Air Force as a Computer Systems Development Officer. She lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Kathleen Utley Kornahrens
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 255
Bibliographic Info: 29 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2023
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9059-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4866-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
Women Graduates of the Class of 1980 3
Prologue 5
1. Nominee 11
2. Basic 24
3. Invader 40
4. Pugilist 61
5. Beanie 78
6. Guinea Pigs 85
7. Doolie 91
8. NRA Shooter 107
9. My Darling Daughter 118
10. Falcon Love 133
11. Black Panther 147
12. Hell Week 155
13. American Pig 162
14. Three Degree 176
15. Two Degree 184
16. Señorita 193
17. Firstie 196
18. Graduate 212
Epilogue 223
Chapter Notes 233
Bibliography 239
Index 245