Caroline Paige

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Caroline Paige
Born	1959 (age 62–63) Wallasey
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Rank	Flight Lieutenant
Battles/wars	Gulf War

Flight Lieutenant Caroline Paige (born 1959) was the first transgender officer to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces. Before her transition in 1999,^[1] she served in the cold war intercepting Soviet bomber planes, and was involved in the Gulf War and Bosnia Conflict.^[2] She switched to Battlefield Helicopters in 1992 and flew several operational tours post-transition, including, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, before her retirement from the military in November 2014.

Military career[]

Caroline joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1980 and after completing Navigator Training at RAF Finningley she was posted to Phantom F4s in the Air Defence role at RAF Leuchars.

In 1998 Caroline finally accepted she needed to resolve her lifelong battle with her gender identity and after informing the RAF of her need to transition she was accepted in service as a female officer. Eighteen months later she was publicly 'outed' on the front page of The Sun newspaper (10 August 2000). After a short tour at RAF Innsworth on the Recruiting Policy desk, working on the implementation of ethnic minority recruiting policy, she successfully agreed her return to RAF Benson, to join No 28 (AC) Squadron ready for its reformation as the first Squadron to receive the Merlin HC Mk3 Battlefield Helicopter. Over a five-year period her work was recognised with two Commander Joint Helicopter Command Commendations for 'Exceptional Service' with a 3rd Commendation from the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force in the Queen's New Year Honours List of 2012. Caroline served in the RAF for thirty-five years and remained flying in thirty-four of them, she completed seventeen operational tours.

Transitioning gender in the military[]

Following her transition in early 1999 Caroline was influential in promoting transgender equality and inclusion in the UK Armed Forces. Her 2000 public 'outing' by The Sun newspaper led to much criticism of the decision to allow her to remain in the military. Critical voices declared transgender people would be a liability, especially if they were allowed to serve with front-line forces. She determined to help make the military a more inclusive environment for those following in her footsteps. She became an Equality and Diversity Adviser for the military in 2000, trained as a Mentor, became a member of the RAF LGBT Forum and Proud2Serve support groups, and participated as a key note speaker at several military conferences and training events throughout the UK. Her role in the UK Armed Forces earned her a Permanent-Under-Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Peoples Award in 2011.

In 2014 Caroline advised the Palm Center, San Francisco State University, regarding a national commission offering implementation guidance seeking the inclusion of openly serving transgender personnel in the US military. Caroline was invited as a panel member at a conference on 'Perspectives on Transgender Military Service From Around the Globe', held in Washington DC, co-sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Palm Center. She also co-authored an Op-ed with Petty Officer Landon Wilson for CNN, entitled 'Both Transgender, but Unequal Paths in Military Service' http://cnn.it/12ka78t; and was interviewed on BBC The World Radio http://bit.ly/126yshT. Caroline has enrolled with Stonewall on their School Role Models Programme where she contributes her story to support, educate and inspire people and to illustrate the positive values of respect, diversity and inclusion.

References[]