Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female RAF Chinook Force Crewmember

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I think if you want that extra ‘ohh, isn’t she amazing? Look, she’s the girl doing this job,’ you’re almost saying that they’re not capable of it in the first place.’ The good thing about the Chinook”Liz explained , “compared to something like the Puma and even the Merlin is that it’s got a lot of redundant space. So you can take a lot around you, a lot of battle damage and as long as the engines are still running and you are still going, then you’re okay. It tells me a lot about how my own mental state was by this time of the campaign as even this didn’t make me bat an eyelid or flinch,” she recalls.

The book touches on, but is not dominated by, the theme of women in the armed forces. This is a topic that has been constantly in the UK news following a series of sex-related scandals. But McConaghy is pragmatic, explaining that in her experience, the men have never treated her or the only other female on her squadron any differently.

It's a powerful story, with a mix of Irish humour, strong news on the then RAF approach to personal issues raised by those in combat and a brutally honest finale. Go buy a copy today." Helicopter International - January-February 2023 Liz talks to us about her flying career, the mighty Chinook and the after-effects of war, stress and the impact on her mental health. PTSD doesn’t have to stay with you forever. It’s a chapter in my book, it’s not an anchor that I wear around my legs forever or a new label that I have to have forever,” she said. “I’ve met so many people via social media who tag themselves as the broken soldier or the forgotten veteran. But just like anything in your body, the bone you break or whatever, with the right time and methods you can heal, and you can move on and recover. I really want to get the message out – just because I had PTSD does not mean I have to have it forever.”

Originally from a small town in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, she attended RAF Cranwell on her 19th birthday to begin her exciting career. I requested this book because of my love of aircraft and in particular Chinooks. This was a great insight and a really interesting read. NetGalley, Karena Freeman I knew we were about to crash so I braced myself hard against the door frame and placed my hand on the release straps of my harness,” she said. Books like this are so important because you simply never know how much good they will do once they have been set free into the world. You just have to trust that those who need it, will find it and that it will make a positive difference.Liz turned to writing both poetry and her autobiography following a tough battle with PTSD years after leaving the service, in the hope it may help others with their mental health.

At the age of 21 Liz became the youngest aircrew to deploy to Iraq. She was also the only female member of the crew on the iconic Chinook helicopter team for four years. Help for Heroes changed my life. They helped me find me again. They made me feel seen once again. And I’m really moving forward into a positive space in life.” Life changing From 2007 McConaghy crewed the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), a high-octane M.A.S.H-style air ambulance service in which a Chinook was on constant readiness at Bastion to fly to the middle of the battlefield and rescue seriously wounded soldiers. On her busiest day of operations in 2008, she and her crew flew 14 separate sorties – including one where five British soldiers had been killed at a forward operating base.

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I think that’s my new purpose, kind of helping others really, which is really good, I’m loving it.’ This is a unique tale that only Liz could tell, which ends with her battling the memories that haunted her long after she had left the battlefield. Air Mail. RAF Association, October - December 2022 With votes opening earlier this year on International Women’s Day, the award called upon the British defence community to nominate women working within all areas of the armed forces – including the reserve forces, MoD civil servants, cadet forces and UK-based NATO personnel – who had gone above and beyond the call of duty.

However, her most significant honour of all her duties was serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team, or MERT, flying ambulance as it was more commonly known. This involved recovering wounded soldiers from the battlefield, often under fire. You do a six-month school called the UCF, which is where you work up to learn how to operate and then you get sent to your first squad, which for me was 27 and then you have to do what’s called a combat ready work up. So that is essentially learning how to operate the Chinook when you’re getting combat ready. You learn what rules you can bend when you’re at war; if you’re getting shot at, what you can and can’t get away with. We’re extremely proud to honour Liz as our Inspirational Woman of the Year 2023, and would like to express our deepest gratitude for her altruism and dedication to uplifting the lives of others.” Now hired as a popular motivational speaker, Liz McConaghy shares her heartfelt stories of battling mental health in the RAF. Emphasising the importance of looking after wellbeing and mental health, Liz encourages others to reach out for help when struggling. Turning adversity into positivity, Liz’s talks focus on finding hope and overcoming adversity, sharing anecdotes from the darkest times in her life and how she has emerged from the darkest of places. If you are looking for a military veteran with a truly inspirational story to tell who will provide audiences with the tools needed to build the path to a new life, look no further than Liz McConaghy. McConaghy was the longest-serving female crewman on the RAF Chinook Fleet, spanning a 17-year career on the aircraft.

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I wrote the book when I was going through my PTSD counselling, and it took me 3 weeks to write because I just had to brain dump everything and it [was] just stored on my laptop and I never thought about it. Then a friend of mine and I were out walking and I mentioned it and she was like you’ve got to send this off to a publisher, what happens if somebody wants to publish it? Then it got published. It was never written in any way to be read by anyone, never mind the whole world, but seemingly everyone has really enjoyed it.