FRIDAY FOTO (June 13, 2014)

Gathering of Eagles.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman John Nieves Camacho

A flight of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets from the 4th Fighter Wing accompany their commander,  Col. Jeannie Leavitt, (middle airplane) on her final flight May 29, 2014, over North Carolina.

Leavitt left Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, where she commanded the 4th Fighter Wing, for a Pentagon assignment as the principal military assistant to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Leavitt became the first Air Force female fighter pilot in 1993, and the first female wing commander in 2012. She recorded more than 2,600 flying hours in the F-15E. In 1993, the Defense Department changed its rules, allowing women to serve as combat pilots. She was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The photo above was taken from a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker.

Co. Leavitt speaking in 2012 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Colette Graham)