First female Thunderbird attends open house

  • Published
  • By Stephen Delgado
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Once upon a time a young woman decided she wanted to be part of one of the Air Force's most prestigious units, but there were some problems. It was 1973 and the unit was the Thunderbirds, which up to that date had never had a woman wear the Thunderbird patch. But a strange thing happened on the way to her Air Force career -- she made it.

Meet Sarah Johnson-Robles, a retired technical sergeant, who in 1973 applied for a position with the Thunderbirds. To her surprise she was brought to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for an interview in November of that year.

"I recall at the time there was an energy crisis, which caused the last four Thunderbird shows to be cancelled and the lights on the Las Vegas strip to be dimmed," she said. "That gave me the feeling that things weren't looking so good."

However, things turned out quite well, and Ms. Johnson-Robles made history by becoming the first woman to be part of the Thunderbirds and wear the famous patch. She arrived at Nellis a 21-year-old airman first class.

"I was stationed at Keesler AFB, Miss., in the inspector general's office, and I was informed I had been accepted for the job Dec.1, and I reported Jan. 2," she said. "I was assigned to the orderly room and one of my jobs was to process all applications of people wanting a position with the Thunderbirds."

The early days with the Thunderbirds had some obstacles to overcome, to say the least, according to Ms. Johnson-Robles.

"I went through a 30-day observation period, which I had to learn a lot of Thunderbird and Air Force history and take a fair dose of sexual harassment," she said. "At the end of the 30 days, I met with an NCO council, and they asked me a battery of questions. The final question they asked me was why I wanted to be a Thunderbird? I answered that I wanted to represent the Air Force and the women in it as a Thunderbird."

Ms. Johnson-Robles, a Buckeye Union High School graduate, said she spent the following three years with the Thunderbirds, and by the time she left, there were three more women serving in administration and the air show coordinator information office.

The time that Ms. Johnson-Robles served with the Thunderbirds may seem like ancient history to some.

"There have been three female pilots so far on the team, a big difference from when I started," she said. "When I joined the Thunderbirds a good portion of men didn't want women serving with them."

She had a break in service from October 1979 to November 1980, but by circumstance she was drawn back.

"I was at the Officers' Club at Nellis and one evening then Col. Chuck Horner, 474th Tactical Fighter Wing commander happened to be there," she said. "He knew about my background and encouraged me to come back to the Air Force. At the time there was an urgent need for people with administrative experience. Without hesitation I rejoined and was serving with the 474th TFW, which was a tenant unit at Nellis."

The remainder of Ms. Johnson-Robles career took her around the world including Germany and Korea.

Ms. Johnson-Robles retired from the Air Force in 1993. Her affiliation with Luke began in 1996 when she married Pete Robles.

"He was deputy commander for operations maintenance at Luke and retired in 2002," she said. "One of my fondest memories at Luke was when my husband was inducted as an honorary chief by the chief master sergeants council. While Pete was still on active duty, I spent a lot of my time doing volunteer work on base and was honored by being named the 2002 Luke volunteer of the year."

Ms. Johnson-Robles said she and her husband have stayed busy since retiring, but it felt great to be back at Luke.

"He works at Nellis as a civilian in aircraft maintenance, and I am in my 17th year on the board of directors for the Thunderbird Alumni Association," she said. "I love to attend air shows, and it was particularly nice to watch the Thunderbirds at Luke."