Spearfish Woman Training to be Navy Fighter Pilot

SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) - A Spearfish native is on her way to becoming a fighter pilot for the Navy.

Jessica Parrett, a 2007 Spearfish High School graduate, is expected to join the ranks of the Navy's Hornet pilots within six months.

Parrett is in flight school in Kingsville, Texas, where she flies a T-45C training jet.

She tells the Black Hills Pioneer that although it's a "baby jet," it's still awfully fast. Soon, she'll be flying an F/A-18 Hornet, which hits nearly twice the speed of sound.

Parrett says she's come a long way since her days as a "girly" high schooler who dreamed of becoming a fashion designer or a model. She says her new path is quite a change, but that she's 100 percent happy with it.

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