Emily Shilling

Emily "Hawking" Shilling is known in the queer and transgender communities as the first transgender person, and most senior Naval line-officer, to regain Naval medical flight clearance for single seat high performance jets post-transition.https://www.navair.navy.mil/news/Winning-inclusion-and-respect-First-transgender-naval-aviator-regains-flight-status/Mon
==Personal==
In 2019, Emily Shilling came out as transgender, during which time there was a ban on transgender persons from serving in the military. This policy was established by President Donald Trump with the 2017 Transgender Military Ban. Due to this policy, she lost her flight status and the United States Navy started processing her out of the military. However, with an executive order, President Biden reversed the ban on transgender military members in 2021. This allowed her to stay in the military, and in 2023 she was cleared by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and returned to flight status. This marked the first ever return to flight status of a trans-identifying active-duty Naval officer, post-transition. 
Emily Shilling established her small business, Arroway LTD, in March 2024.
== Military Career ==
Emily Shilling has accumulated over 1,700 flight hours, conducted 60 combat missions, and has flown a multitude of aircraft. The majority of her flight time was spent in the EA-6B Prowler. The remainder of her time was spent flying various aircraft as part of initial flight training or as part of test pilot sorties. These aircraft include the EA-18G, FA-18E/F, F-16D, UH-60, UH-72A, HU-16, U-6A, C-12C, B-25, ASK-21, S-3B, NP-3D, SGS-233, Saab AB, LEAR, SNJ, NU-1B, T-38C, T-45 Goshawk, T-6A/B, T-34 Mentor, and the T-28 Trojan. 
==Queer Community Impact==
Emily Shilling became a member of the board for Out & Equal in 2023. As a member of SPARTAhttps://spartapride.org/ since 2019, she was elected the President of the non-profit organization in May of 2023
She has participated at multiple LGBTQ+ events, including DoD Pride 2023https://www.navair.navy.mil/media/image/14856, the American Psychological Association symposium in 2024, as well as Discover Card and USAA corporate events. She has also attended Congressional hearings to address transgender policies within the Department of Defense. 
Notable speeches include Speaker for the Dead, Thirty-One, and the Women at SciTech Panel. 
Year	Speech 	Event
2023	Speaker for the Dead 	Naval Air Systems Command Transgender Day of Remembrance
2023	Thirty-One 	DoD Pride
2023	Women at SciTech Panel	American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
==Achievements==
As an advocate for the queer community, she was awarded the 2022 Outie Award. During her time as President, SPARTA accepted 2024 Community Champion Award from MMAA. She has also been listed in the Top 100 LGBTQ+ Executive Role Models of 2023https://outstanding.involverolemodels.org/, the Top 50 LGBTQ+ Women and Non-binary Trailblazers of 2024, and a 2024 Out Leader (as part of Out in National Security)
Year	Association 	Achievement
2022	Out & Equal 	Corporate Advocate of the Year
2023	YouTube 	Top 100 LGBTQ+ Executive Role Model
2024	Curve (magazine) 	Top 50 LGBTQ+ Women and Non-Binary Trailblazer
2024	Modern Military Association of America (MMAA)	Community Champion Award (group award)
2024	Out in National Security 	Out Leaders List
Category:American people
Category:Project management
Category:Queer