Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Transitioning Air Force Officer and Distinguished U.S. Air Force Veteran test pilot with over 17 years experience leading, managing, and executing all aspects of high-risk aerospace vehicle operations, flight testing, and military operations. My experience spans 30+ aircraft types in fighter, trainer, and heavy categories, including all aspects of aircraft developmental testing: flight sciences, mission systems, weapons development, first flights, training, etc, with the preponderance of my experience coming in the F-22 Raptor and E-11 (Bombardier Global Express). I am a passionate leader of large test organizations, well-versed in working across organizational lines to solve difficult organizational problems to maximize and streamline flight test activities. What sets me apart is my ability to work with and energize diverse groups towards solving difficult problems. Notwithstanding my substantial leadership experience, I am also very trainable. I have earned distinguished graduate honors (top 10%) from ever formal training program I have ever attended, including being the #2 overall graduate (out of 900+) from the United States Air Force Academy class of 05', top graduate from Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT), Top Graduate from Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals and the F-22 Basic Course, the #3 out of 700 graduate from USAF Squadron Officer School (Military mid-career professional education), and the #1 graduate in all phases of instruction from the USAF Test Pilot School. I am a nationally published author on unexplained physiological incidents in fighter aircraft, an interviewee for the NASA astronaut class of 2017, and a 3-time national champion in the sport of Team Handball. I have a top secret security clearance with 4 years international experience in high-stress environments.
I am currently serving as an instructor in the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The #1 ranked undergraduate aeronautical engineering program in the country. As the director of flight test, I instruct and oversee the AE456 Flight Test engineering course; a rigorous 4-credit hour program providing undergraduate students a foundation in basic flight test concepts to prepare them for future attendance at USAF Test Pilot School. In this role I am qualified in the T-53, T-51, and T-41.
During this period I served as the Deputy Commander of the 412th Operations Group at Edwards AFB, CA. As the deputy commander, I was principally responsible for the execution of all flight test activity occurring on Edwards AFB, consisting of Seventeen hard surface and lakebed runway, seven Combined Test Forces, numerous host agencies including NASA and AFOTEC, and the United States Air Force Test Pilot School operating nearly the entire diverse inventory of DoD aircraft. In this role I streamlined bureaucratic process to ensure proper prioritization and scheduling of DoD resources on a day to day basis. Through meticulous team building and networking I led a skilled team of individuals that overcame a 3+yr stoppage in link-16 testing, finding a policy solution to this longstanding issue that properly balanced risk to mission and risk to public interest. I was also instrumental in the execution of numerous high profile test events including multiple A/C first flight events, missile live fires, and hypersonic launches.
During this period I served as the Director of the F-22 Combined Test Force (CTF) and Commander of the 411th Flight Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, CA. In this capacity I was responsible for directing and overseeing all aspects of a 400 person unit dedicated to the safe, secure, effective, and efficient developmental flight test of the F-22 Raptor. Under my leadership the F-22 CTF rose the challenge of the most ambitious modernization effort on the platform since it's fielding. With limited A/C and resources, the CTF successfully executed its first aircraft deployment in over 20 years, and did so multiple times to execute elevated risk live fire missions. We also fielding multiple Agile software releases on the F-22, benchmarking deficiency discovery, prioritization, fix verification and reporting processes to find and correct hundred of critical software deficiencies. Additionally, I led the CTF through flight sciences envelope expansion on multiple new programs consisting of elevated risk testing right to the edge of the F-22 envelope, many of which I personally piloted as the senior flight sciences qualified test pilot in the unit. Lastly, I used team-building, diverse network, and organizational leadership skills to create an F-22 enterprise level effort to increase A/C parts stockpiles at the F-22 CTF. Through tireless effort, sound judgement, and skillful organizational maneuvering, I was able find a workable solution to more than double A/C parts on hand and then sell this plan to multiple organizations with competing and non-aligned interests, ultimately resulting in a negotiated solution that increased 2024 sortie generation at the F-22 CTF by over 50%. This issue had been attacked by several levels of leadership before to no avail, but was finally fixed under my leadership. For our efforts the F-22 CTF was named as the winner of the Air Force Association's Howard W. Leaf award for 2021 as the top flight test organization in the United States Air Force.
During this period I returned to the F-22 CTF/411 FLTS as the director of operations. During this period I directed all flight and test operations for the 400+ person CTF, including the completion of three separate test programs which provided valuable new combat capability to the warfighter. I also led a 15 person inter-organizational and cross-functional re-design of the safe-to-fly certification process for F-22 software. The innovation initiative stands to safe the CTF 20+ test sorties per year in efficiency and increase test throughout during a critically important period of F-22 modernization. During this period I co-presented my physiological research paper titled "Unexplained Physiological Events: Testing the Ultimate Complex System" at the SETP National Conference, and was the recipient of the Ray E. Tenhof award for the most outstanding paper of the conference. Additionally, during this period I successfully completed the Air Force's Air War College curriculum via distance learning, graduating from the highest level of Air Force Professional Military Education available. Finally, I have had the honor and unique experience of leading CTF operations through the COVID-19 crisis, an experience that has shown me the importance of clear and transparent leadership communication, calm and rational decision making, and empowering the skills and innovative ideas of smart subordinates.
Over four years’ experience as an operational F-22 pilot at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA. During that time I gained qualification as an F-22 4-ship flight lead and mission commander and took part in numerous Joint/Combined Exercises to include Exercise Valiant Shield and three separate coalition Red Flag events. During these events I flew as Mission/Package commander for 100+ aircraft missions on numerous occasions, seamlessly integrating the combined/joint force towards a single mission goal. I also deployed to PACOM three times in support of PACOM Theater Security Package (TSP) requirements, providing 5th generation airpower vital to the “Pivot to the Pacific.” Finally, I garnered an “exceptionally qualified” rating on my initial mission checkride in the F-22, and received “commendable” scores during other checkrides, showing my ability to quickly master difficult flying tasks. Positions filled during this period: 27th Fighter Squadron Dissimilar Air Combat Training Officer Scheduling Flight Commander Chief of Training 1st Fighter Wing Chief of Flight Safety
Distinguished Graduate and top graduate (#1 of 4) from the F-22 Basic Qualification course. Academically, I earned “Top Book” honors at graduation with an F-22 Qualification course record 99.87% grade point average (one missed question over the span of all examinations). Additionally, I garnered an “Exceptionally Qualified” rating on my initial F-22 qualification checkride, a first for the F-22 B-course. This challenging course consisted of 335 academic hours (including 27 tests), 55 simulator missions, and 50 sorties (52.8 hours) in the F-22 designed to produce near-mission ready F-22 pilots. During this time I consistently excelled in all phases of F-22 employment.
Winner of the AETC Commander’s Trophy for the top overall graduate in my class (#1 of 24), Distinguished Graduate, Flying Excellence Award winner (top flying scores in the class), and Daedalian’s Award winner for top formation pilot. I was competitively selected out of the USAFA to attend Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard AFB. While there, I excelled in completing this demanding, multi-national program consisting of 365 hours of academic training (achieved a 98% academic average), 61 simulators, and 200+ sorties accounting for over 240 hours in the T-37 and T-38C. I was hand-picked as one of eight candidates from across the Air Force to compete for a chance to fly the F-22 as part of the third test class of students to transition to the F-22 immediately following initial pilot training. During this competition, a tailored Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals (IFF) course, I consistently performed above my peers in all phases. The course consisted of nine simulators and 20 challenging flight training events spanning all phases of fighter aircraft employment in the T-38C. I earned honors as the sole Distinguished Graduate of the class (#1 of 8) and was one of four pilots selected to continue to the F-22.