Real-Life Top Gun Pilots Are Married and Pregnant — and the Baby-to-Be Has Flown at Supersonic Speed!
Senior Airman Leon Redfern/ U.S. Air Force Majors Mark and Lauren Olme
A few days after last Thanksgiving, U.S. Air Force Maj. Lauren Olme — who was 19 weeks pregnant at the time — headed to work with her husband Maj. Mark Olme. The two roared through the sky together high above the Nevada desert in B-1 Lancer bombers.
"I looked over my shoulder and gave him a little wave before I peeled off to go back and land," recalls Lauren, who found herself wondering just how much longer she'd be able to fit into the cramped cockpit of the bomber she was piloting.
"Flying in formation with my husband, going super-sonic together while I carried our child is something I'll never forget," she exclusively tells PEOPLE in this week's issue.
Adds Mark: "Looking over and knowing that I'm following my wife and baby around in that other airplane beside me was just . . . awesome. I was so proud of her."
It was clearly just another day at office for the Olmes, who are both graduates of the Air Force's version of Top Gun, known as the U.S. Air Force Weapons School.
Senior Airman Leon Redfern/ U.S. Air Force Majors Mark and Lauren Olme
Lauren, 33, was back in the cockpit during the second trimester of her pregnancy thanks to a new Air Force policy that allows female pilots to fly — and, most importantly, keep their skills sharp —during a period when they would otherwise be stuck on the ground.
"Our fight to retain and recruit top talent demands that we're not needlessly grounding our aircrews," explains Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones.
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Lauren, who works alongside her 34-year-old husband as a flight instructor at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, was thrilled with the new regulations that gave her the greenlight to fly up until the 28th week of her pregnancy.
Courtesy Lauren and Mark Olme Majors Mark and Lauren Olme
"You're always working toward being the best and I didn't want to fall behind," says Lauren, whose baby-to-be has logged 9.2 flight hours, sometimes flying faster than the speed of sound.
"I'm so thankful that I get to keep living out my dream," she continues.
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After learning that Lauren was pregnant last August, the couple — who met as sophomores while attending the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and were married in 2012 — discussed whether Lauren should hang up her flight suit until after the birth of their baby, due on April 21.
Senior Airman Leon Redfern/ U.S. Air Force Majors Mark and Lauren Olme
"Our big concerns were the fumes, how loud it is inside the cockpit and the risk of ejection," explains Mark.
But after Lauren's doctor and the Air Force medical team determined the risks were low, Lauren, who spent her first trimester dealing with morning sickness ("It was actually all-day sickness," she says), was soon back doing what she loved.
Any worries that her piloting skills had grown rusty quickly vanished. "As soon as I sat in the seat," she says, "it all came back to me."
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And not long afterwards, she even ended up with a custom flight suit.
"I stayed in the normal flight suit that was just a size bigger until my coworkers started telling me that I was stretching the bandwidth of it, so I got a maternity flight suit with a little bit more room in the belly area," says Lauren, who plans on returning to flight "ready to rock and roll" after her 12-week maternity leave.
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When asked if the two pilots want their child — who already has a flight jacket — to one day follow in their footsteps, Lauren just grins.
Courtesy Lauren and Mark Olme Majors Lauren and Mark Olme
"Obviously it's up to them to decide," she says. "But we'll probably do some small subliminal messaging early on, starting with onesies with 'B-1' written on them."
