NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) held a graduation ceremony for Class 164 on June 14. Thirty-four students successfully completed the intense 11-month course of instruction and earned their designations as Engineering Test Pilots, Engineering Test Flight Officers, or Test Project Engineer.
Naval aviator and NASA astronaut Capt. Victor Glover Jr. delivered the keynote address. Glover was the Navy’s exchange pilot selected to attend the Air Force Test Pilot School where he graduated in 2007. He is an Artemis II pilot and spent 168 days in space in 2018. Glover will be one of four astronauts on the first mission to the moon in more than 50 years.
“I would trade places with any of you today,” Glover told the graduating class. “Being a test pilot was the best job I ever had.”
Glover charged the class to protect their passions while developing healthy ones.
“I love that [you] show up and still want to be public servants,” he said. “You are not like anybody else—use that power to help us create the next generation of responsible people.”
The graduation ceremony happened at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department in Hollywood, Maryland. Graduates included members of the German Air Force, Italian Air Force, Republic of Singapore Air Force, United Kingdom Royal Air Force, Swiss Confederation, as well as U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force.
Naval Test Wing Atlantic Commodore Capt. Elizabeth Somerville, USNTPS Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Aaron Kia and USNTPS Chief of Academics Dr. John Tritschler presented diplomas and offered congratulations to the new testers.
Army Capt. Christopher Smith earned the Capt. Willie McCool Outstanding Student Award for the top performing student in the categories of academics, flight performance, and technical report writing. He was also recognized with the Developmental Testing Thesis Award for the best final capstone report.
Maj. Philip Wheat earned the Capt. Syd Sherby Leadership Award named after the founder of the test pilot training division, now USNTPS. The Capt. Sydney Sherby Award recognizes the student who displays exemplary leadership in the class.
Twenty-two students completed the requirements for the engineering test pilot course, six students completed the engineering test flight officer course, and six students fulfilled the requirements for the test project engineer course.
USNTPS trains pilots and engineers for development test and evaluation of aircraft and aircraft systems. USNTPS is a component of Naval Test Wing Atlantic under Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) in Patuxent River, Maryland. NAWCAD advances capability and operational readiness for naval aviation.
For more information about NAWCAD, please go to www.navair.navy.mil or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MyNAWCAD/.
