Meet Iraqi's first woman RAF bomber commander

Here is your chance to salute the first woman ever to take command of an RAF bomber squadron.

Wing Commander Nikki Thomas, 26, was named after we revealed the historic appointment on Thursday. She took charge of the Tornado squadron after a parade at RAF Marham , Norfolk, yesterday.

She will take command of at least 250 highly-trained RAF staffers, including 30 of Britain’s top gun pilots and flying weapons system operators - dubbed whizzos.

She will also be leading her squadron when they fly to Iraq in summer 2015 to support Operation Shader in the fight against IS.

Wing Commander Thomas is being trained in gruelling “escape and evasion” techniques to prepare her for being shot down behind enemy lines.

The position was handed to her at a formal parade which saw the No 2 (Army Cooperation) Squadron change from a Tornado to a Typhoon Force.

The Number 12 (Bomber) squadron has now taken over as a Tornado force.

Wing Commander Thomas, who specialises in flying a two-seater £9.4million Tornado, said: “This has been a superb day and the guys and girls on parade today were fantastic.

“It has been a very proud day for all those involved and I’m very much looking forward to working with the personnel of this truly fantastic Squadron.”

Wing Commander Thomas joined the RAF as a Navigator in 2000 after graduating with an Aeronautical Engineering degree at Loughborough University and has continued up the ranks ever since.

She once flew a daring low mission to help foil a deadly rocket attack on a UK base in Afghanistan.

She is a weapons system operator with extensive experience of combat operations, clocking up more than 35 missions in Afghanistan in just three months.

In December 2009, as squadron leader of No 31 Squadron Tornado team, she formed the RAF’s first all-female Tornado jet crew with pilot, Flight Lieutenant Juliette Fleming.

They flew an aircraft armed with 500lb laser guided Paveway IV bombs, Brimstone air-to-ground missiles and a 27mm gun.

Their missions helped both American and British troops under fire in Helmand Province.

She was the first woman to take that role in Afghanistan and one of the youngest members of the RAF to rank so highly.

She was also the only female on the Tornado GR4 to become a qualified weapons instructor.