Wikipedia

Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz

Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz (born in 1987[1] in Niedźwiedz, Poland[2]) is a captain [1] in the Polish Air Force and the first Polish woman to become a fighter pilot. She currently flies the MiG-29 at the 22nd Tactical Air Base near Królewo Malborskie in northern Poland [3].

Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz
Born1987
Niedźwiedź, Poland
AllegiancePoland
Service/branch Polish Air Force
Rank Kapitan (kpt.)

Biography edit

She is a graduate of Eugeniusz Horbaczewski High School (named for Polish pilot and World War II ace Eugeniusz Horbaczewski) in Zielona Góra[4][5]. Between 2006 and 2011, she studied at the Polish Air Force Academy (dubbed "school of the eaglets") in Dęblin[3]. She graduated with the title of master of engineering [3]. Following her officer promotion to the rank of second lieutenant, she was assigned to the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork as a pilot in the Aviation Action Group's air squadron on December 5, 2011 [3].

Tomiak-Siemieniewicz underwent technical training in the construction and operation of the MiG-29 fighter at the Engineering and Aviation Training Center in Dęblin[3] and completed flight preparation at the 23rd Air Base[3]. She began instructor-aided training flights in May of 2012 in the MiG-29UB[3] aircraft. On October 18, 2012, as the first of the members of the Polish Air Force Academy's class of 2011 stationed at Malbork, she completed her first solo flight in the MiG-29G[4]. On November 28, 2014, she received her first combat duty assignment for NATO and the Republic of Poland's defense system[6]. She is the first woman to serve as a fighter pilot in the Polish Air Force[7].

Tomiak-Siemieniewicz has indicated that she is faced with sexist comments regarding her aspirations, revealing that when she expressed her wish to join the military as a primary school student to a current Polish serviceman, he responded stating that it was not a woman's career [8].

In 2018, she starred in one of NATO's promotional videos for the "We are NATO" campaign[8][9].

As of 2018, Tomiak-Siemieniewicz possessed roughly 500 flight hours in the MiG-29 aircraft and about 750 overall flight hours[10]. By December 31st, 2019, she had flown a total of 1300 hours across various aircraft[1]. Though she specializes in operations of the MiG-29, she also flies the Cessna 150, PZL-130 Orlik, TC-1, and PZL TS-11 Iskra[1].

Personal life edit

Among friends, Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz uses the callsign "Witch"[8]. Her husband, also a pilot[2], is known to the media as "Leszek". She has two brothers[2].

Awards and honors edit

  • Readers of the online portal lotniczapolska.pl awarded then-second-lieutenant Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz with the title "Woman of the Year" in the Lotnicze Orły 2012 plebiscite[11][12].
  • In January of 2013, she was nominated for the "Buzdygany 2012" award of the "Polska Zbrojna" monthly journal[3].
  • On February 5, 2018, she was named Pilot of the Year by the commander of the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork [13][14].
  • She received 5th place in the "Ten ambitious women in the Polish military 2018" ranking published by the Foundation for Women in Defense and Security (milwomen.pl)[14].

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek (2020). Dziewczyny na skrzydłach. Polskie lotniczki, które zdobyły niebo. Prawdziwe historie. Kraków: Znak Horyzont. pp. ebook - loc 4378. ISBN 978-83-240-7872-1.
  2. ^ a b c d Anna Dobiegała (2018-03-04). Loty ponaddźwiękowe zamiast sukienek z falbankami (in Polish). trojmiasto.wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Buzdygany czas zacząć" (in Polish). polska-zbrojna.pl. 2013-01-08. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  4. ^ a b c Krzysztof Kirschenstein (2014-10-18). "Ppor. pil. Katarzyna Tomiak" (in Polish). aviateam.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  5. ^ a b ""Lotnik" świętuje! Była wyjątkowa absolwentka, pilotka myśliwca" (in Polish). zielonagora.wyborcza.pl/. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  6. ^ a b "Kobiety lotnicy w Polsce 2017 r." (in Polish). www.polot.net. August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  7. ^ a b Radosław Konczyński (2012-10-27). "Malbork. Pierwsza kobieta w samolocie bojowym" (in Polish). „Dziennik Bałtycki” dziennikbaltycki.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  8. ^ a b c d AKD (2018-05-28). "Polka za sterami myśliwca promuje NATO" (in Polish). www.newsweek.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  9. ^ a b Jacek Skrobisz (2018-05-26). "Malbork. "Czarownica" z 22. Bazy Lotnictwa Taktycznego bohaterką filmu NATO" (in Polish). portalnaplus.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  10. ^ a b Radosław Konczyński (2018-03-08). "Kobiety na malborskich MiG-ach 29. To była "miłość od pierwszego wejrzenia"" (in Polish). malbork.naszemiasto.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  11. ^ a b " Lotnicze Orły 2012 - znamy zwycięzców plebiscytu" (in Polish). lotniczapolska.p. 2013-04-01. Archived from the original on 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  12. ^ a b "Pani pilot Su-22" (in Polish). lotniczapolska.pl. 2013-11-05. Archived from the original on 2013-12-21. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  13. ^ a b "Żołnierze roku 2017" (in Polish). 22blt.wp.mil.pl. 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  14. ^ a b c Radosław Konczyński (2018-02-09). "Kobieta została Pilotem Roku w 22 Bazie Lotnictwa Taktycznego w Malborku" (in Polish). malbork.naszemiasto.pl. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  15. ^ "Porucznik Katarzyna Tomiak – Siemieniewicz została Pilotem Roku w 22. Bazie Lotnictwa Taktycznego w Malborku" (in Polish). liceum-dabrowa.pl. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2020-08-30.

External links edit

References edit

Content in this edit is from the existing Polish Wikipedia article at pl: Katarzyna Tomiak-Siemieniewicz; see its history for attribution.

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