Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour delivered Elon University’s annual Baird Lecture on March 13, 2025, to an audience she engaged with insights on leadership and resilience inspired by her service as the nation’s first Black female combat pilot.
When you fly combat missions for the U.S. Marines, your goals often change at a moment’s notice. That certainly was true for Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour.
Enemy positions shift. Mission objectives shift. Even the weather, which determines the type of missile loaded onto an attack helicopter, will shift.
“There’s always going to be something,” Armour said. “Life is going to continue to happen and how you flex and adapt, how you get back on course and accomplish your mission anyway, that’s key. That’s everything.”
A decorated Marine veteran who flew attack helicopters during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Armour took to the stage in McCrary Theatre on March 13, 2025, to share lessons on leadership and success with an audience in attendance for Elon University’s annual Baird Lecture.
Throughout her talk, Armour wove personal stories of military service, leadership in combat, and personal setbacks into a broader message of perseverance and action. Major themes of her remarks included:
- Resilience: True leadership requires adaptability, perseverance, and the ability to “flex and adapt” in high-pressure situations.
- A Gutsy Mindset: Success comes from taking bold actions, not just thinking about them.
- Permission to Engage: Individuals must give themselves permission to take action and pursue their goals.
Armour recounted a mission in Iraq when she and her co-pilot were called to assist pinned-down troops. Despite limited fuel and a missile that didn’t immediately launch, they took decisive action. “When your Marines and soldiers are in trouble, you answer the call,” she said.
Armour also spoke about the phrase that has shaped her approach to leadership: “You have permission to engage.” In combat, that means clearance to take action. In life, it means giving oneself the authority to pursue dreams, overcome setbacks, and step into leadership roles.
“If you don’t give yourself permission, who will?” she asked the audience.
Armour made history during Operation Iraqi Freedom as America’s first African American female combat pilot. The author of “Zero to Breakthrough: The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter,” she launched VAI Consulting and Training LLC after her completion of two tours in the Middle East.
Born in Chicago and growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, and prior to her military service, Armour became the first woman of color to serve on the Nashville Police Department’s motorcycle squad. Her story has been featured by media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, “The View,” FOX News and by Oprah Winfrey. She is working on her next book, “The Gutsy Move.”
In her remarks, Armour distinguished between “gutsy thoughts” and “gutsy moves,” explaining that having bold ideas is not enough—one must act on them.
She illustrated this point with her own journey to becoming a combat pilot. “I didn’t know how I was going to do it,” she said. “I just made the decision and then figured it out.” That persistence paid off: after multiple rejections from the Marines’ officer training program, she kept applying until she was finally accepted – and she would graduate at the top of her class.
“Don’t let people talk you out of a vision they can’t see,” she said. “If you see it clearly, it’s yours to go after.”
The Baird Lecture Series at Elon University
The Baird Lecture Series was endowed in 2002 by a generous gift from James H. Baird and his late wife, Jane M. Baird, of Burlington, North Carolina. The Bairds were the first presidents of the Elon Parents Council, and their involvement with the university has spanned more than 35 years. Previous speakers include David McCullough, Anna Quindlen, Tom Friedman, George Will, Frank McCourt, Dave Barry, Leland Melvin, Sanjay Gupta, M.D., and David and Christopher Gergen.