COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, October 18, 2010 /Cambridge Who's Who/ --Although having just completed her bachelor's degree at Colorado University, Susan Forgues is not your typical undergrad. In fact, while most of her classmates were preparing for the SATs and bidding goodbye to their high school years, she had just concluded a 16-year military career as a helicopter pilot. From 1988 to 2004, Forgues navigated the harsh terrains of Bosnia, Zaire and Somalia as one of the first female tactical helicopter pilots with the Canadian Forces. Her example would not only serve as a testament to her strength and field expertise, but also pave the future for women in the military. This past month, Forgues sat with Cambridge Who's Who to discuss her adventurous career with the Canadian Forces and her current pursuits in anthropology.
"My background is fairly unique," Forgues started, as she spoke with the editors of Cambridge Publishing. "I enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1988 and received my wings as a tactical helicopter pilot in 1990...There [are] only about 100 of us in Canada [who] have done this over a period of about 25 years." Before 1980, pilot training was not open to women and it took nearly a decade after these doors opened for women to be able to fly tactical helicopters.
Later, Forgues would also become the first female pilot to be sent to the United Kingdom as an exchange pilot, and the first to be promoted to major as an operations officer at a tactical helicopter squadron. "The firsts just kept coming along," she remembered. And while progress over the last quarter century has been slow, "I've now, I think, given women the opportunity to at least consider that as a possibility in their careers."
With a resume deemed impressive by even the strictest standards, Forgues would not be remiss to take a hiatus from her career. Not one to rest on her laurels, however, she has instead opted to enter into another profession?one that many might consider much unexpected, to say the least.
As an anthropology student in 2009, Forgues spent two weeks on an archaeological dig in San Ignacio, Belize. There, she and other students examined Mayan housemounds for pottery and other tools. Said Forgues of the experience, "It was absolutely fascinating to look at these ceramic pieces and know that someone actually ate off this before it went in the ground." Having completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in anthropology and a minor in geography, Forgues plans to concentrate her graduate studies in neuro-linguistics, which pertains to how the brain acquires and processes and language.
Many have asked Forgues about her inspirations in making such a sudden and drastic career change. Her answer is surprisingly simple?anthropology is a field about which she had become increasingly passionate through her many years of international work. Today, she advises those persons seeking to further their education in a foreign subject to waste no time. "Often, when we come out of high school, we're not really sure what we want to do. But once we get a little bit older, once we're mature students, we should follow the things that interest us the most."
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