The Air Force Uniform Office is searching for 25 pregnant Airmen at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, to test the service’s new Maternity Flight Duty Uniform.
Once the service selects volunteers for the effort, it’ll take participants’ measurements, fit them for their flight suits, have them don them for four weeks, and then ask them to report back about how the outfits held up “during their normal duty day,” according to a Nov. 18 Air Force Life Cycle Management Center release.
“Current aircrew members are modifying their flight duty uniforms, at a significant personal financial cost, or they are borrowing bigger uniforms from their husbands, which creates a safety of flight issue,” noted 1st Lt. Avery Thomson, the office’s lead program manager for maternity development efforts, in the release. “The Maternity Flight Duty Uniform will help remove a barrier for approximately 400 pregnant Airmen each year.”
Airmen who are interested in taking part must complete the survey located here using a Common Access Card-enabled device, and are advised to reach out to Thomson via the Global Address book with any survey-related questions, the release stated.
The new uniforms are among steps the Air Force is taking to help encourage more women to pursue rated careers and not force them to choose between becoming aviators and mothers.
The service also recently got the ball rolling on the production of female-specific body armor for security forces Airmen, Air Force Magazine previously reported.