Military service
Goodman joined the RAF in 2000, and after initial officer training at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, [1] she was appointed to a permanent commission as a pilot officer on 8 August 2000. [3] She then trained as a helicopter pilot at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. She was promoted to flying officer on 28 November 2000 (with seniority from 28 May 1998) [4] and flight lieutenant on 28 November 2001. [5] She joined 28 Squadron, part of the Merlin Force, at RAF Benson in 2004, transferring to 78 Squadron, also based at RAF Benson, when the Squadron was reformed in 2007. She completed three tours of Iraq. [1]
She was captain of an Incident Reaction Team Merlin, when, on 1 June 2007, she flew into Basra at night using night vision and under heavy fire to evacuate a serious casualty, 20-year-old Rifleman Stephen Vause of the 4th Battalion The Rifles (who had been given 15 minutes to live following a mortar attack). [6] Her DFC was gazetted on 7 March 2008, the first woman to receive this decoration. [7] In December 2009, Goodman trained with the RAF in preparation for the joining Afghan War. [8]
On 11 May 2012, she retired from the Royal Air Force. [9]
The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 to other ranks, of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy".
Number 31 Squadron, known as the Goldstars, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. The Squadron lays claim to being the first military unit to fly in India, where it was based from 1915 to 1947. Throughout the Cold War, No. 31 Squadron was based in West Germany, flying from RAF Laarbruch and RAF Brüggen. Between September 1984 and March 2019, the Goldstars operated the Panavia Tornado GR1/4, initially from RAF Brüggen and after August 2001 from RAF Marham, Norfolk. No. 31 Squadron was disbanded on 14 March 2019 at RAF Marham and reformed on 11 October 2023 at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, equipped with the General Atomics Protector RG1.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Ted Squire, was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1970s, a squadron commander during the Falklands War, and a senior air commander in the 1990s. Squire served as Chief of the Air Staff from 2000 to 2003. In retirement he was the chairman of the board of trustees of the Imperial War Museum and vice-chairman of the board of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
No. 233 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that operated from 1918–1919, 1937–1945, 1952–1957 and 1960–1964. The squadron was formed from several Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) flights and took part in the tail end of the First World War before being disbanded. The squadron was reformed with the advent of World War II. At first No. 233 Squadron flew general reconnaissance patrols before being tasked with transportation duties just prior to D-Day. Shortly after the Second World War the squadron was again disbanded, to be reformed once more in 1960. No. 233 Squadron was finally disbanded in 1964.
410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron, nicknamed the "Cougars", is a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron currently at Canada's primary training base for the CF-18, at Cold Lake, Alberta. The squadron was formed during the Second World War as an RCAF squadron under the Royal Air Force (RAF), at RAF Ayr, near Prestwick, in Scotland.
Air Commodore Jeaffreson Herbert Greswell, was a British pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer in the post-war years. As an air commodore, Greswell served as the eleventh Commandant Royal Observer Corps between June 1964 and June 1968.
Air Commodore Peter Malam "Pete" Brothers, was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and flying ace of World War II. Brothers was credited with 16 aerial victories, 10 of which he achieved during the Battle of Britain.
Cyril Stanley "Bam" Bamberger, was a Royal Air Force pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain, the defence of Malta and the Korean War.
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United Kingdom 
Royal Air Force