 Complete the following phrase:  Following the June 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Syrtlanova entered the military. Initially she continued to teach in Tbilisi, since the aeroclub became the 26th Military Aviation School of Pilots. After Axis forces made significant territorial gains and neared the Caucasus in September 1942, the school had to close. She then briefly served as a flight commander in a medical squadron in the Transcaucasian Front before joining the 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment in November. After arriving at the regiment in December 1942 she quickly gained a reputation as a confident, oriented, and successful pilot. Despite her relative lack of combat experience due to arriving at the front late, she eventually won promotion from pilot to flight commander, partially due to her vast amount of pre-war experience piloting the aircraft type used by the regiment, the Po-2. Not long after the unit was honored with a Guards designation and renamed as the 46th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment in February 1943, Syrtlanova was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for completing 104 successful sorties. She continued tallying sorties throughout the war, completing 100 during the battle for the Taman peninsula September-October 1943 and 172 in the 