The Air Force said Thursday it is planning to select 10 female college students each year to train as pilots.

Two female students with majors related to aviation will be selected from each of the five Air Force ROTC units, which are at Korea Aerospace University, Hanseo University, Korea National University of Transportation, Sejong University and Yeungnam University. The students will be recruited at 19 years old during their freshman year of college.

“Until now, the only way for a woman to become a pilot was to attend and enroll in the Republic of Korea Air Force Academy, but now we are diversifying the methods for women to join the Air Force,” stated an Air Force official.

Qualified women for flight training at the respective universities will receive scholarships, special military training and education, and will go through flight training after commissioning as an officer upon graduation.

After completing the flight training, service time for combat plane pilots is 13 years, whereas it is 10 years for helicopter pilots.

Those reclassified as general officers instead of pilots in the middle of training will be required to serve an additional three years of basic service to compensate for time covered by the scholarship.

Qualifications for examination and fitness standards can be found on the universities’ Air Force ROTC recruitment announcement boards.

The Air Force official added, “We plan to select 10 female students every year who are eligible for this financial support. This is just the beginning, and we will continue to carry out close analysis on flight training and organizational management of all female pilots.”

By Nadine Lee, Intern reporter (nadine@heraldcorp.com)