Photo By Senior Airman Kailee Reynolds | U.S. Air Force pilots from Class 25-01 hold up their broken wings during their...... read more read more
Seventeen U.S. Air Force officers were awarded the coveted silver wings as a symbol of their hard work and training during a graduation ceremony held Oct. 11, 2024.
Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) is a training program that helps prepare prospective military pilots. Upon completion of the program, graduates earn their silver wings as Air Force aviators.
The speaker at the Class 25-01 graduation ceremony was U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Daniel Begin, Director of Air Mobility Command Legislative Affairs and Special Assistant to the Air Mobility Command commander, assigned to the National Capitol Region. He directs all legislative affairs on Capitol Hill for the command and acts as Air Mobility Command special advisor to Higher Headquarters Air Force, Joint Staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. Begin is also the Assistant Adjutant General of the Minnesota Air National Guard. In this role, he is chief advisor to the Adjutant General on all matters pertaining to Air National Guard operations, training and readiness. Begin received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in May of 1996. He then came to Laughlin Air Force Base for pilot training as part of class 98-03. Upon graduation, he kicked off his career as the first T-1A Jayhawk First Assignment Instructor Pilot with the 86th Flying Training Squadron in 1998.
Receiving their pilot wings during the ceremony were:
Capt. James Kersey
1st Lt. Jordan Forney
2nd Lt. Tory Bartlett
2nd Lt. Arianna Blazicko
2nd Lt. Jacob Eason
2nd Lt. Cassidy Eiting
2nd Lt. Frederick Fees IV
2nd Lt. Jacob Fisher
2nd Lt. Nicholas Hastings
2nd Lt. Thomas Jones Jr.
2nd Lt. Sefilina Maile
2nd Lt. Kieran Miller
2nd Lt. Grant Morgan
2nd Lt. Jared Montgomery
2nd Lt. Molly Smity
2nd Lt. Noah Thomas
2nd Lt. Irfan Tihic
In addition to the graduation ceremony, a special emphasis was placed on recognizing the sacrifices and contributions of military spouses. It served as a reminder that while the graduates were the ones receiving their wings, their achievements were also a testament to the love, sacrifice and constant support of their spouses, who serve alongside them in spirit and strength.
“Military spouses are often said to ‘live in the shadows’,” said Lt Col. Elizabeth Music, 47th Student Squadron commander. “Although not in uniform, spouses have an essential role to play and are the backbone of the military community. Tonight is about your pilots earning their wings, but also a recognition of you. Your love, sacrifice and ad nauseam quizzing of bold face procedures has not gone unnoticed.”
The ceremony proceeded with the breaking of the wings, a tradition symbolizing the start of a new journey for the novice pilots. According to tradition, the first pair of wings a pilot receives should never be worn. Instead, the wings should be broken into two halves to invite good fortune throughout the pilot’s aviation career. One half is kept by the pilot, while the other is given to a significant person in their life. To preserve that good luck, those two halves are said to only be brought together again in the next life.
The event culminated in the pinning of the wings, where friends and family members affixed a pair of silver wings onto the graduates’ uniforms. This gesture signified the official transition from student into winged aviators, fully prepared to embrace the forthcoming roles within the United States Air Force.
Pilot wings are a symbol of hard work, training, and dedication. Aviation wings are issued to pilots who have achieved a certain level of proficiency or training.
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2024 16:49 |
| Story ID: | 483765 |
| Location: | LAUGHLIN AFB, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Graduating the Future of Flight: Class 25-01, by SrA Kailee Reynolds, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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