Having a child is always a thrilling adventure. Maybe more so when you add in going supersonic? But when your parents are two ‘Top Gun’ pilots, I suppose there isn’t any other way for the unborn baby to spend its time than by flying high!
U.S. Air Force Maj. Lauren Olme, and her husband Maj. Mark Olme, recently welcomed baby Oakley Olme into the world. The couple are both graduates of the Air Force’s version of Top Gun, known as the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.
We are thankful to be home and learning this new world of parenting together,” Mark said.
Majors Mark and Lauren Olme Photo by Senior Airman Leon Redfern/U.S. Air Force
And for Oakley, life had already been an adventure even before his birth. Up until her third trimester, Lauren was determined to keep flying. And once her doctors cleared her, she jumped right back into the cockpit. Mark said they had made sure to address all the worries the couple had. “Our big concerns were the fumes, how loud it is inside the cockpit and the risk of ejection.”
“Going super-sonic together while I carried our child is something I’ll never forget,” Lauren said. “Looking over and knowing that I’m following my wife and baby around in that other airplane beside me was just … awesome,” Mark said. “I was so proud of her.”
Nineteen weeks pregnant at the time, the pair had taken to the sky above Nevada in B-1 Lancer bombers. “I looked over my shoulder and gave him a little wave before I peeled off to go back and land,” Lauren said. Just in time for Lauren’s pregnancy, the Air Force had implemented a new policy that allowed pregnant female pilots to keep flying up to 28 weeks pregnant, as long as a doctor cleared them.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Lauren Olme, and her husband Maj. Mark Olme, greet their son, Oakley. Photo by DVIDs
“You’re always working toward being the best and I didn’t want to fall behind,” Lauren said. Baby Oakley, by the time he was born, already has 9.2 flight hours under his belt, some of those faster than the speed of sound.
I’m so thankful that I (got) to keep living out my dream,” she said.
The couple smiled when they were asked about their hopes for Oakley’s future and if they would want their little one to join them in the skies. “Obviously it’s up to them to decide,” Lauren said. “But we’ll probably do some small subliminal messaging early on, starting with onesies with ‘B-1’ written on them.”
She credits the Air Force for fighting for the rights of their female pilots. “I wouldn’t have been able to (fly while pregnant) if women in the Air Force didn’t advocate for these types of policy changes,” Lauren said. “So to live out a policy change that other women worked so hard to enact is truly an honor.”
Watch a look at these amazing pilots, below!
