Wendy B. Lawrence - Military Career

Military Career

Lawrence graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. A distinguished flight school graduate, she was designated as a Naval Aviator in July 1982. Lawrence has more than 1,500 hours of flight time in six different types of helicopters and has made more than 800 shipboard landings. While assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 6 (HC-6), she was one of the first two female helicopter pilots to make a long deployment to the Indian Ocean as part of a carrier battle group. After completion of a master’s degree program at MIT and Woods Hole in 1988, she was assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 30 (HSL-30) as Officer-in-charge of Detachment Alpha. In October 1990, Lawrence reported to the U.S. Naval Academy where she served as a physics instructor and the novice women’s crew coach.