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Marija Jovanovich
Marija Jovanovich
	Wing Commander Marija Jovanovich in November 2022
Nickname(s)	"Maz"
Born	1982 (age 42–43); Kruševac, Yugoslavia
Allegiance	Australia
Service / branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service	2001–present
Rank	Group Captain
Commands	No. 10 Squadron RAAF (2020–23)
Battles / wars	Iraq War; War in Afghanistan
Awards	Conspicuous Service Medal

Marija Jovanovich, CSM (born 1982) is an Australian military test pilot and the most senior female pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Jovanovich has over 3,300 hours of flight experience, in over 30 different types of aircraft.^[1] She commanded No. 10 Squadron RAAF from December 2020 to December 2023.^[2] Jovanovich is the second female pilot in RAAF’s history to take command of a flying unit.^[1]^[3]

Early life

Born in Kruševac, Yugoslavia, in 1982, Jovanovich is the eldest of three daughters of surgeons Snežana and Aleksandar Jovanovich. The family left Yugoslavia in 1992 to escape from the Yugoslav Wars, and settled in New Zealand.^[4]^[5] Jovanovich arrived not knowing any English. She attended high school in Auckland and first began learning to fly in a Cessna 152 at the Walsh Memorial Flying School in Matamata. In 1999, beginning with her father Aleksandar, the family began moving to Australia; Jovanovich followed later in the year, after graduating from high school.^[4]

Military career

Jovanovich joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 2001 and studied at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) from 2001 to 2004. In 2004 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science majoring in mathematics and physics, with first class Honours and a University Medal in physics. Jovanovich undertook flying training on the CT-4B and PC-9/A aircraft and graduated from No. 206 Pilots Course in 2006.^[6] After graduating from ADFA and pilot training, she flew the P3 Orion on operations and exercises all over the world, including the Middle East, US, Asia, and Southwest Pacific. She earned her Masters in Systems Engineering in 2013.^[2] In 2013, Jovanovich attended the prestigious United States Air Force Test Pilot School, flying 23 types of aircraft over the duration of the course.^[2]^[3]^[7] She was the first Australian in 25 years to complete the course.^[2]

On return from the US, Jovanovich worked as a test pilot at the Aircraft Research and Development Unit RAAF at RAAF Base Edinburgh.^[6] In December 2020 Jovanovich assumed command of No. 10 Squadron RAAF, becoming the third woman to lead a RAAF flying squadron. No. 10 Squadron became the first RAAF squadron to simultaneously have a female commanding officer and a female executive officer in 2021, when Squadron Leader Jenna Higgins was appointed executive officer. Jovanovich described this as "Both a big deal and not a big deal. It’s a big deal because we’re breaking new ground, and it’s not a big deal because at 10 Sqn that’s honestly just business as usual. Everybody just accepts that we’re here because we’re awesome at our jobs, and we are. So, we just get on with it".^[8]

Awards

2019 – Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) for meritorious achievement and devotion to duty as the initial Commander of Task Element 629.3.1.1 during operation PHILIPPINES ASSIST, supporting the liberation of Marawi.^[9]
2021 – Duke of Gloucester Cup for Most Proficient Flying Unit of 2020.^[10]^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Aviation, Women in. "Emerging Leaders 2020 Meet our Guest Speakers". Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Australia, Women in STEMM (20 December 2017). "STEMM PROFILE: Squadron Leader Marija Jovanovich | Test Pilot | Royal Australian Air Force | Adelaide | SA". Women in STEMM Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Our eye in the sky". ABC Radio. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ ^a ^b Novak, Lauren (8 October 2019). "Stars in Her Eyes". The Advertiser.
^ Duck, Siobhan (30 December 2006). "Top Guns". Herald Sun. p. W06.
^ ^a ^b Convenor, Gender Institute; [email protected]. "Women in aerospace: taking advantage of diversity". genderinstitute.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ Waldron2020-09-28T02:02:00+01:00, Greg. "RAAF wing commander charts a flight path for adventure". Flight Global. Retrieved 17 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Ghodsi, Roya (13 December 2021). "Air Force's ISREW specialists". Australian Defence Magazine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ "Australia Day 2019 Honours List | Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia". 25 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ "RAAF No. 10 Squadron awarded Duke of Gloucester Cup 2021". Australian Aviation. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ Tupas, Nastasha (5 August 2021). "RAAF No.10 Squadron awarded Duke of Gloucester Cup 2021". www.defenceconnect.com.au. Retrieved 17 September 2021.