BLACK HISTORY MONTH: First Black female pilot in Louisiana Army National Guard

NEW ORLEANS (KSLA) - The Louisiana Army National Guard commissioned its first Black female pilot, Warrant Officer Tatiana Julien, who is now the first Black female pilot in LANG. Julien is from New Orleans.

Julien serves as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot in B Co., 1-244th Assault Helicopter Battalion in Hammond, La. She graduated from Warrant Officer Candidate School in August of 2019 and completed flight school July 21, 2021.

“It is a celebration of contributions, where we are now and where we are going in the future,” Julien said.

Julien says she had no idea she’d be making history when she set out.

“It feels surreal. Sometimes it just takes that one spark,” said Julien. “I feel like I now have a responsibility to let young females know that aviation is an option for them even though it is a male-dominated field. There aren’t many women, and even fewer Black women in aviation, both in the military and on the civilian side.”

Julien has not yet participated in any emergency response missions as a warrant officer, she says she has experienced the value of what she does now. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Julien and her family were rescued from the Superdome in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter after waiting a week for assistance.

“Hope, security and relief were all that I felt in that moment. I am now in a position where I may have to do the same for someone else,” Julien said.

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