Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American United States Air Force combat veteran and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district since 2015. A retired military officer, she served in the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1988 to 2010 and rose to the rank of colonel. One of the highest-ranking female pilots in the history of the Air Force, McSally was the first American woman to fly in combat following the 1991 lifting of the prohibition on female combat pilots.
McSally flew the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft over Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Southern Watch. She was also the first female commander of a USAF fighter squadron (the 354th Fighter Squadron (354 FS), based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base). In 2001, she sued the United States Department of Defense in McSally v. Rumsfeld, challenging the military policy that required United States and United Kingdom servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.