New Blue Angels roster includes first female fighter jet pilot and former Navy men’s lacrosse player

When the Blue Angels soar over the Severn during Commissioning Week next May, an officer from Owings Mills and the squadron’s first female flying ace will be among those taking the control stick. The Navy announced the 2023 air show roster Monday. Lt. Amanda Lee, of Mounds View, Minnesota, is the first woman named to the elite flight squadron as a pilot, the Navy said. She’ll be joined by Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Zimmerman, a 2009 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is currently assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.