The three-time WNBA Champ Phoenix Mercury have named Tammie Jo Shults as the group's 2018 Lady of Ideas. Shults, that was one of the first woman competitor pilots in the U. S. Navy and will certainly be recognized during the Mercury's matchup with the Atlanta Dream on Friday, August 17 at Chatting Stick Hotel Field at 7 p. m. " Tammie Jo's years of solution to our country as a participant of the United States Navy make her a hero, and trailblazing the means as one of the Navy's very first lady boxer pilots make her motivational," stated Mercury Principal Operating Officer Vince component of the WNBA's Inspiring Female platform, the Mercury annually honors one deserving candidate at a video game. Shults will get the honor in a special event at halftime of the August 17 game. Shults was the very first woman to fly an F/A -18 Hornet in the U Diana Taurasi Jersey. S. Navy and was awarded her last active-duty rank as a Lieutenant Leader in 1995. After leaving the military, Shults signed up with Southwest Airlines as an industrial pilot. Shults signs up with an elite group of incredible ladies that have been honored by the Mercury, consisting of Robin Roberts, Ali Vincent, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Billie Jean King, Picabo Road, Hope Solo, Lisa Fernandez, Jordan Wieber, Mo' ne Davis, Holly Rowe and Gabby all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi and 2017 WNBA scoring champ Brittney Griner go back to Phoenix this summer season to lead the Mercury in a quest for the franchise business's WNBA-record tying fourth champion.