Big Perm: F/A-18 Fighter Pilot, Combat Drone Shootdown, and the Next Chapter with NASA featuring Alexandra Mensing
About this episode
Alexandra Mensing shares her journey as a U.S. Navy F/A-18 pilot and her transition to NASA, highlighting leadership lessons and combat experiences.
In this episode, Robert “Bob” Pizzini is joined by Alexandra (“Big Perm”) Mensing, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot. Alexandra recounts growing up in Raleigh, the influence of sports and coaching, choosing the Naval Academy, and completing leadership and survival training including NOLS and SERE. She explains aviation and jet selection, E/F single- vs two-seat aircraft, and carrier operations, including Arctic Circle “blue nose” deployment, NATO exercises, and later Middle East operations. She describes combat defensive counter-air missions and becoming the first female naval aviator to employ an AIM-120 to destroy a one-way attack drone threatening the USS Harry S. Truman, alongside the stresses of events like a friendly-fire shootdown and ejections. Alexandra discusses leadership as building team commitment, transitioning to the Navy Reserve, and starting a NASA Langley SkillBridge internship while exploring airlines and business. Learn about all of these and more nuggets of insight in this latest episode of the Elevate Your Leadership podcast. KEY TAKEAWAYS Sports build crucial leadership foundations - volleyball coach Lee demonstrated the balance of pushing hard during…
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