![]() Stewart is the latest in a string of Air Force commanders to be let go this year.īrig. Amrhein, has been appointed as the interim 19th Air Force commander. Prior to his role with the 19th Air Force, he served as the deputy chief of staff for strategic employment at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium. In his role, Stewart was responsible for more than 45% of the Air Force's annual flying hour program, according to his biography. The 19th Air Force has more than 30,000 personnel and 1,530 aircraft assigned to 17 Wings located across the country. He also has 600 hours of combat time over 168 combat missions. He served as an instructor and evaluator pilot in multiple aircraft, and he holds the rating of command pilot with more than 2,600 flying hours. He was commissioned in 1992 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps after graduating from the Georgia Institute of Technology, according to his official Air Force biography. The sky is not even the limit for Test Pilot School grads.Stewart could not be reached by at numbers listed for him in public records. Now, looking back at it eight years later, it has been better every year and I absolutely enjoy it. From the time I was brand new as a student, I didn’t know what the future would hold for me. “You will appreciate being a graduate from the Test Pilot School more every day that Test Pilot School passes and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. With all of his accomplishments, Elliot has a message to current students and future graduates of the U.S. ![]() ![]() Just his willingness and eagerness to get things done was just impressive to watch and I was really proud to see his name attached to the Thunderbirds especially as the commander.” “He stood above the rest in terms of his personality and his charisma. ![]() Jose Gutierrez, commander, Electronic Warfare Group said. While performing precision aerial maneuvers with his Thunderbirds team over Edwards Air Force Base, some of Elliot’s previous instructors were close by to witness their previous student’s incredible journey in flight test become a reality with the USAF Thunderbirds. Air Force Weapons School (Nellis AFB, Nev.) graduate as well as a Test Pilot School graduate, which based on timing for pilots going through those programs is incredibly challenging and rare.” “He’s got the distinction in what we call a dual patch,” Schmitt said. “This is where all the test pilots and flight test engineers for the Air Force get their first education into what is developmental test, how to take an aircraft that has never flown before and do a safe nautical approach to deliver that capability to the warfighter fastest.” The USAF Thunderbirds perform precision aerial maneuvers during the 2022 Aerospace Valley Air Show at Edwards Air Force Base.Īccording to Schmitt, Elliott achieved a lot of firsts at his time at Test Pilot School almost 10 years ago. David Schmitt, commander, 411th Flight Test Squadron explained. “TPS is really the bedrock of test for the U.S. The Aerospace Valley Open House, Air Show, and STEM Expo returned to Edwards Air Force Base after a 13 year hiatus that welcomed over 120,000 attendees to get a unique look at the flight test mission at Edwards. A lot of the skills that I have picked up at TPS apply directly to what I am doing as Thunderbird 1.” “I use very much all the skill sets that the Test Pilot School taught me as the Thunderbirds lead. “This is about as close to flight test since I have done in the Air Force believe it or not,” Lt. Justin “Astro” Elliott, USAF Thunderbirds commander, signs autographs during the 2022 Aerospace Valley Air Show at Edwards Air Force Base. Justin Elliott, Thunderbirds commander, returned, with his team, to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to perform at the 2022 Aerospace Valley Air Show using the skills he learned where he was previously a student. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, performs precision aerial maneuvers demonstrating the capabilities of Air Force high performance aircraft to people throughout the world.īeing a graduate of the U.S.
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