Commander, United States Navy
Emily "Hawking" Shilling
Naval Aviator · Test Pilot · Military Leader · Speaker · Lead Plaintiff, Shilling v. United States
Over 20 years of U.S. Navy service as an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer. Graduated University of Colorado (2005) with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences and earned naval aviator wings in 2007. Selected for U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, graduating with honors in 2015 while simultaneously earning a Master's degree in Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School.
Piloted EA-6B Prowler, EA-18G Growler, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Completed 60 combat missions aboard USS Abraham Lincoln during Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. Served with Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-23 executing advanced aviation technology flights.
Served as President of SPARTA Pride (2023–2025), a professional development organization supporting 2,200+ transgender and non-binary service members, stepping down after the organization transitioned to its first full-time executive director. Previously served on the Board of Directors of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. In February 2025, became lead named plaintiff in Shilling v. Trump (now United States v. Shilling), a federal challenge to Executive Order 14183 banning transgender military service.
Recognition — Civilian
- 2024 Out Leadership Top 50 List Out in National Security
- 2024 Curve Power List — 50 LGBTQ+ Women and Nonbinary Trailblazers Curve Magazine
- 2023 Top 100 LGBTQ+ Executive Role Models Involve
- 2022 LGBTQ+ Corporate Advocate of the Year Out & Equal Outies
- 2010 Daedalian Award for Superior Airmanship During an Emergency Order of Daedalians
Recognition — Military
- 2015 Best Development Test Thesis U.S. Naval Test Pilot School
- Meritorious Service Medal ×1
- Air Medal — 60 Combat Missions, Afghanistan/Iraq ×3
- Navy Commendation Medal ×2
- Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal ×3
Milestone
In 2023, Emily Shilling became the first openly transgender active-duty Naval officer to regain flight status following transition — cleared by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery after President Biden reversed the ban in 2021. Two years later, she filed suit as lead plaintiff to prevent that status from being stripped again.
Read about the litigation →Work experience
- 2025
Lead Plaintiff — Shilling v. United States
Lambda Legal · U.S. District Court, W.D. Washington
Federal challenge to Executive Order 14183 banning transgender military service. Case proceeded through district court injunction, Supreme Court emergency stay, and Ninth Circuit oral arguments.
- 2023
President & Board Chair
SPARTA Pride
Led transgender military advocacy organization through 2025, stepping down after the organization transitioned to its first full-time executive director.
- 2023
Deputy Program Manager
Unmanned Carrier Aviation (PMA-268)
Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System
- 2020
Deputy Program Manager
Naval Mission Planning and Strike Systems (PMA-281)
Next-Generation Mission Planning Systems
- 2017
Project Manager, Next Generation Air Defense (NGAD)
Mission Engineering and Design (4.0M NAVAIR)
- 2015
EA-6B/EA-18G Test Pilot and Project Officer
Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23)
- 2014
Fixed Wing Student
United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS)
- 2012
Graduate Student — MS Systems Engineering
Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)
- 2009
Pilot / Tactics Department Head
Electronic Attack Squadron One Three One (VAQ-131)
- 2008
Student
Electronic Attack Squadron One Two Nine (VAQ-129)
- 2007
Student Naval Aviator
United States Navy
- 2005
Associate Engineer, Kepler Space Telescope
Ball Aerospace
- 2001
Lead Mechanical Engineer
Colorado Space Grant Consortium
Education
- 2005
B.S. Aerospace Engineering Sciences
University of Colorado, Boulder
- 2014
M.S. Systems Engineering
Naval Postgraduate School
- 2015
Certified Naval Test Pilot
U.S. Naval Test Pilot School — Graduated with Honors
- 2017
Professional Certification, Model-Based Systems Engineering
MIT
Flight experience
| Platform | Hours |
|---|---|
| EA-6B Prowler | 1,072.4 |
| FA/EA-18E/F/G Super Hornet / Growler | 158.2 |
| T-45C Goshawk | 177.8 |
| T-38C Talon | 46.8 |
| 19 other aircraft | 261.3 |
Support the mission
SPARTA Pride
A Transgender Military Advocacy Organization
SPARTA Pride is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for transgender and non-binary service members, veterans, and their families. They provide peer support, professional development, policy advocacy, and community for people who serve — or have served — at enormous personal cost.
The work SPARTA does is about more than any one person or any one lawsuit. It is about ensuring that everyone who is willing and able to serve their country can do so with dignity. That work continues regardless of who is in office, what the courts decide, or what the headlines say.
Note: This endorsement is personal. I am no longer affiliated with SPARTA Pride in any official capacity. I share this because the work matters — full stop.
Content on this site reflects the owner's personal views and does not represent the U.S. Navy or the Department of Defense.