Captain Elizabeth A. Okoreeh-Baah (born 1977) is an officer in the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 and on March 13, 2006, she became the first female to pilot the V-22 Osprey

V-22 Osprey

The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...

 tiltrotor

Tiltrotor

A tiltrotor is an aircraft which uses a pair or more of powered rotors mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles at the end of a fixed wing for lift and propulsion, and combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft...

 aircraft.

Biography

Elizabeth A. Okoreeh-Baah was born in 1977 and grew up in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Her father, Isaac Okoreeh-Baah, Sr. is a native of Ghana in West Africa, and mother Jacqueline Okoreeh-Baah from Memphis Tennessee. Elizabeth Okoreeh-Baah is 2000 graduate of the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

.

She spent the first five and a half years of her Marine Corps career as a CH-46 Sea Knight

CH-46 Sea Knight

The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopter, used by the United States Marine Corps to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Assault Support is its primary function, and the movement of supplies and...

 pilot

Naval Aviator

A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...

 in HMM-263. When the squadron, redesignated VMM-263

VMM-263

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 is a United States Marine Corps tiltrotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft...

, began transitioning to the Osprey, Okoreeh-Baah become the first female pilot to train on the tiltrotor aircraft. On March 13, 2006, she piloted her first Osprey flight.

See also

• Sarah Deal
  Sarah Deal
  LtCol Sarah Deal Burrow, United States Marine Corps, became the first female Marine selected for Naval aviation training, and subsequently the Marine Corps' first female aviator in 1993....
  
  , first female U.S. Marine Corps aviator
• Vernice Armour
  Vernice Armour
  Vernice Armour is a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps who was the first African-American female naval aviator in the Marine Corps and America's first African American female combat pilot in the United States military...
  
  , first African-American female U.S. Marine Corps aviator (July 2001)
• Megan McClung
  Megan McClung
  Megan Malia Leilani McClung was the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War...
  
  , (April 14, 1972–December 6, 2006) Major McClung was the first female United States Marine Corps officer killed in combat during the Iraq War.