After years of hard work, pure coincidence led to three women making history in Nowra last week.
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Pilot Lieutenant Rhiannon Thomson, aviation warfare officer Royal Navy Lieutenant Hannah Best and sensor operator Leading Seaman Clare Lassam, from 725 Squadron became the first all-female flight team to operate an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter.
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While it was coincidence the three were rostered for a routine training flight together, each had worked hard to develop the necessary skills.
Lieutentant Thomson is one of only six female pilots in the Royal Australian Navy's history.
She has been flying for four years with the Defence Force, and said she had seen a number of changes in that time.
"Throughout most of my training I've been the only girl on my courses," she said.
"I did have two other females on my advanced flying course, but they were both airforce - most females I have known throughout training have been airforce and army."
She said she wasn't sure why more women didn't go for the roles, and described her job as the best she'd ever had.
"It's really exciting - I never get up and dread going to work in the morning," she said.
"I'm super supportive of more females coming through and giving them a go - there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do the job or be just as capable."
Lieutenant Thomson said a diverse workplace benefitted men just as much as women.
"Diversity helps any organisation to grow and develop - including Defence," she said.
"If you keep bringing in the same kind of person you're not going to go anywhere because everyone has the same attitude and same ideas.
"Through my own experiences i think some of my peers may have developed differently if I wasn't about because I brought a bit of that diversity and helped them grow and be more mature."
