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March 1, 2013
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Capt. Thomas R. Key
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banquet held Feb. 26 at New World Landing honored Outstanding Flight Instructors of 2012 from local training squadrons and Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC). The banquet is presented annually by the Pensacola Lions Club. The award recognizes outstanding military flight instructors representing Training Air Wing Six and the 479th Flying Training Group at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola and Training Wing Five at NAS Whiting Field. The summaries below, from their nomination packages, display a few of their accomplishments and skills. These achievements describe the dedication and commitment these candidates exemplify for the Outstanding Flight Instructor awards.
Lt. Cmdr. Philip Z. Smith As a T-6A flight instructor, Lt. Cmdr. Smith recorded more than 140 flight hours and completed more than 100 student event sorties in 2012. Smith also served as the assistant NATOPS officer for the VT-10 Squadron Augmentation Unit (SAU), where he was responsible for the scheduling and tracking all T-6A SAU instructors. In the civilian workforce, is an instructor for the Air Force’s 479th Operational Support Squadron at NAS Pensacola, in the T-6A simulator.
Lt. Melissa G. Dillard After joining the reserves in 2011, Lt. Dillard joined the VT- 86 SAU. In 2012, Dillard recorded 231.5 flight hours and completed 122 student event sorties as a T-39 flight instructor. Dillard also served as the unit’s T-39 NATOPS, public affairs and physical readiness officer. She was responsible for the unit receiving an outstanding on the NATOPS evaluation as well as a 100 percent pass rate for the physical readiness test. She is also a civilian contract instructor for Training Air Wing Six.
Maj. Robert G. Williams Maj. Williams conducted 306 training sorties while amassing 558.8 mishap-free flight hours, the highest annual total among T-6A instructor pilots in VT-10. He was named Instructor Pilot of the Year for 2012 for VT-10 and CTW-6. As the student control department head, he supervised the education of 237 student naval flight officers. He mentored and guided more than 40 students. He volunteered to be officer-in-charge of the T-6A hurricane evacuation to Fort Worth, Texas, and was responsible for the safe evacuation, shelter and return of 14 aircrew and aircraft.
Lt. Jonathan McCarver As a T-39 flight and academic instructor, Lt. McCarver flew 240.4 mishap-free hours. In 2012, he served as T-39 NATOPS officer and implemented improvements to the program. He also worked as the T-39 standardization and training officer for seven months. He conducted joint planning with the Air Force AC-130 Weapons School for a live fire exercise. He produced a student DVD for the T-39 N/G ensuring an easier transition for students from the T-6 to the T-39.
Lt. Bryon T. Yamaji In January 2012, Lt. Yamaji reported to VT-86 as a flight instructor with duties including strike schedules officer. A T-39 instructor, he was recognized as the Strike Instructor of the Quarter for the third quarter of 2012. He is one of the top performers in the operations department with the goal of efficient scheduling of personnel, time and resources. He was also selected by his peers as the recipient of 2012 Capt. Jason “Radio” Paynter Esprit de Corps Award.
Lt. Matthew D. Liashek Lt. Liashek is an up and coming superstar at VT-86. He has qualified in all phases of the Advanced Tactical Maneuvering (ATM) stage ahead of timeline. As the public affairs officer, he hosted more than 200 visitors at VT-86, including Boy Scout troops, local politicians and international senior officers. He also has had articles published that detail the successes of the Virtual Mission Training System (VMTS). He currently serves as the T-45 NATOPS officer and a test and evaluation pilot for the VMTS program.
Lt. Justin R. Foster Lt. Foster is an Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) instructor at Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC). He facilitated Aerodynamics I and II to more than 598 students and instructed more than 298 classroom hours with a 90.8 percent test average. Foster has played a key role in the revision of the curriculum modules and the development of a new course of instruction within these subject areas. As a classroom instructor and as the API schedules and training officer, Foster oversees the command’s largest division.
As part of the Crew Resource Management (CRM) Team, Capt. Key executed 11 in-house CRM instructor (CRM-I) courses that graduated 190 CRM instructors. He also executed two mobile training teams that graduated 49 CRM instructors. He taught seven skills, workload management, case studies and course intro at each convening. Key is responsible for the quality of CRM training and program implementation throughout all type/model/series of U.S. Marine Corps aircraft/communities. He executed six fleet CRM assist visits during the fiscal year.
Capt. Anthony D. Bares Capt. Bares is a flight commander in the Air Force’s 451st Training Squadron. His understanding of the undergraduate combat systems officer (CSO) training program was catalyst to 23 students graduating in 2012. As assistant scheduling shop chief, Bares reallocate training hours and prevent multiple training timeline extensions. Bares is qualified to instruct in both available instructor positions in the T-1 aircraft as well as en route navigation and advanced air operations phases in the T-25 electronic warfare simulator.
Lt. Michael M. Short As the most active ground academic instructor from Helicopter Training Squadron Eight (HT-8), Lt. Short completed 93 hours of classroom flight instruction for 707 students. He taught course rules, fam zero, CRM (student and instruction) and forms. His efforts helped HT-8 achieve its pilot training requirements for 2012. Short participates in a number of community and squadron character building activities. He is den leader of Boy Scout Pack 400 in Pace and acts as the coordinator for the HT-8 partnership with Hobbs Middle School.
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Lt. Annie J. Otten Lt. Otten is a flight instructor with Helicopter Training Wing 18 (HT-18), which provides basic and advanced training to United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and allied student naval aviators (SNAs). In 2012, she flew more than 355 mishap-free instructional hours while completing 197 intensive SNA and instructor training sorties. Otten’s other duties include Aviation Safety Awareness Program (ASAP) officer and she spearheaded an initiative that resulted in an increase in completion rate and awareness of aviation safety issues.
Lt. Cmdr. Amy A. Horner In 2012, Lt. Horner completed 56 inactive duty training (IDT) periods, 39 additional flight training periods (AFTPs), 28 days of annual training (AT) and 86 days of active duty training (ADT). She provided 191 production days to the HT-18 SAU and Training Wing Five. Horner’s qualifications include C Pilot and Instrument/Visual Navigation Pilot. In September, Horner mobilized for 18 days in support of Sixth Fleet operations as exercise evaluator for Operation Combined Endeavor 2012.
Lt. Michael R. Felber In 2012, Lt. Felber amassed more than 498 mishap-free flight hours and 227 student syllabus sorties, compared to the squadron average of 322.7 flight hours and 149 syllabus flight sorties. As the squadron’s assistant operations officer, Felber is also responsible for the daily flight schedule. Felber specializes in the contact state – training students in the earliest stage of helicopter instruction – and he guided six student “on-wings” from their first flights to their solo with zero incidents. As a standardization pilot in several categories, he also serves as mentor to his peers.
Lt. Jared D. Powell In 2012, Lt. Powell flew more than 476 instructional flight hours and 315 sorties, making one of the largest contributions toward VT-2’s production requirements. Powell also served as flight officer, class adviser and Navy Ball coordinator. As class adviser, Powel was responsible for the development and growth of 10 student naval aviators from first flight to program completion. Powell holds instructor pilot qualifications in various stages of training including instrument and visual navigation, contact, out-of-control flight and formation flight.
Lt. Nathan J. Lassas Lt. Lassas flew 326 mishap-free hours in 2012 in the T-6B. That brings his career mishap-free total above 2,730 hours, including more than 900 instructional hours in the T-6B and E-6B. In 2012, Lassas completed five “on-wings,” and he was one of only two O-3s selected as initial progress check pilot to evaluate struggling students and their ability to complete the Joint Primary Pilot Traning (JPPT) syllabus. He was also selected for the duties of assistant operations officer, a billet normally filled No photo by a field grade officer. available
Lt. Noa J. Funk Lt. Funk joined Training Squadron Six (VT-6) as primary flight training instructor in the T-6 Texan II in March 2011. He has served as the public affairs officer and assistant maintenance officer, and is currently serving as aviation safety officer. He flew 412.6 instructional hours exceeding the squadron’s average of 263 hours. He also amassed a total of 435 mishap-free flight hours. He mentored 11 “on-wing” students while serving as aviation safety officer.