María Eugenia Etcheverry


María Eugenia Etcheverry is a Uruguayan pilot in the Uruguayan Air Force who holds the rank of Major. She was one of the first combat pilots in Latin America, and was the first female Major and the first female commander of a squadron in the Uruguayan Air Force.

Career

María Eugenia Etcheverry's father was a military pilot, but she wanted to pursue a military career on her own. In 1997, after the Uruguayan Air Force allowed women to join for the first time, María Eugenia Etcheverry was one of the first women to enroll at the Military School of Aeronautics alongside Carolina Arévalo. At the time, she was required to adhere to rules designed for men, such as short haircuts. After graduation in 2001, she trained in acrobatics in Pilatus PC-7's.
Both Etcheverry and Arévalo both began their active military service in 2001, becoming the first female combat pilots in Latin America. Etcheverry was the first to fly, taking off from the Tte. 2° Mario W. Parallada Air Force Base in a Cessna A-37 Dragonfly.
Etcheverry continued to set new firsts for the Uruguayan Air Force, becoming the first woman to lead an air force squadron of sixteen pilots, and the first to become a Major. Both Etcheverry and Arévalo were named Women of the Year by Zonta Punta del Este - Maldonado, for their pioneering work as pilots in the military. When Etcheverry became pregnant, she did not fly for nine months, instead working in maintenance. As a result of her rise in rank, she has since stopped flying combat missions altogether.