Fleet Week in Baltimore to highlight women's excellence in military careers

BALTIMORE -- Starting Wednesday, ships will be docked around Baltimore for the Fleet Week festival, which celebrates members of the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. It will also be a chance to showcase women's excellence in military careers.

"It is really an opportunity for us to get out there and show the community what our ship does," Commanding Officer of U.S.S. Marinette Janet Broome said.

Janet Broome is the Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Marinette, which will be sailing into Baltimore for Fleet Week. Broome is responsible for ensuring the ship and its crew are operating properly.

She told WJZ she often thinks about how her career field has changed.

"Now our highest leadership in the Navy is a woman," Broome said. "The Naval Academy Superintendent is also a woman. There's women in some pretty high leadership roles today and it's great because I've never had those opportunities to see those leadership roles filled by women when I was younger."

Rear Admiral Nancy Lacore is another key player during Fleet Week. She's in charge of the planning and execution of many of the events.

Lacore joined the military in 1990 when many jobs weren't open to women.

"In 1993, the Combat Exclusion Law was partially repealed, and that opened combat ships and helicopters to women," Lacore said. "That's where I ended up going. I flew helicopters."

Some of the amazing flyovers you'll see at Fleet Week will be piloted by women, including retired Southwest Airlines Captain Sabrina Kipp.

"I'm going to be bringing in a North American B-25 bomber, a World War ll bomber," Kipp said.

She said she began flying nearly 50 years ago, she was only one of two women in her flight school.

"I've never believed in a gender bias in a career," Kipp said. "I always believed growing up that you should do what you're capable of doing and there shouldn't be any gender barriers."

That's the message these women want to make sure other young ladies know as they're thinking about careers in traditionally male-dominated professions.

"The more that we can tell a positive story and show some positive role models, I think we'll be a lot better off in bringing more women in," Lacore said.