VALDOSTA — Two Warner Robins first lieutenants will soon take their Air Force careers to new heights, according to the Air Force News.
First Lt. David Pina, 25, deputy program manager for the ALR-69A Radar Warning Receiver, and 1st Lt. Eric Florschuetz, 30, chief of capabilities and integration in the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing, are among the 50 officers Air Force-wide to recently be accepted into the Selective Undergraduate Pilot Training Program.
The Specialized Undergraduate Flying Training (SUPT) Selection Board met at the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, from Jan. 9-11 to consider 249 active-duty applicants for the program.
The age cutoff for the training program is 29. As a 30-year-old candidate, Florschuetz had to submit special paperwork to have his age waived by the Board of Correction of Military Records.
SUPT is held at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.; Vance Air Base in Enid, Okla.; Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas; and at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla.
The 13-month, intensive program includes four to six weeks of study in aerodynamics, aerospace physiology training, computer-based training courses and other related studies. Students will generally start their primary aircraft training in the T-6 Texan II. Students are then “racked and stacked” according to their flight abilities, academic scores, and other factors.
Next, student’s track selections are considered. The four tracks include the T-38 (fighter/bomber track), the T01 (tanker/airlift track), the UH-1 (helicopter track), and the T-44/C-12 multi-engine turbo prop (C-130 track).
Pina and Florschuetz applied for the SUPT program in September 2006, but both airmen had dreams of becoming pilots long before enrolling in their pilot training program. For Pina, a Lowndes High School graduate, it began at age 4.
“I still remember the day it happened,” Pina told the Air Force News. “I sat in the cockpit of an F-16 at an air show at Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal, located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”
Florschuetz also had high hopes for a pilot career at a young age.
“My dad worked at Sunstrand Aviation, which makes different parts for civilian and military aircraft,” Florschuetz told the Air Force News. “Because of his career, he would take me to air shows every year, and that’s where my interest in aviation all began.”
With their budding military aspirations geared toward the pilot career field, both lieutenants attended the Air Force Academy. And similarly, both sustained injuries that medically disqualified them from the training program.
Florschuetz’s career in engineering brought him to Warner Robins, where he worked before his current job in engineering in the 752nd Combat Sustainment Group.
Pina entered his first non-rated career choice, acquisitions, and came to Robins since he was already scheduled to come to the base on casual status under the SUPT program after his pilot slot fell through.
Years later, Pina and Florschuetz received the word that their aviation dreams weren’t finished. During their organization’s weekly staff meeting in February, Director of the 542nd CSW Jack Blair announced that the two officers were accepted into the year-long SUPT program.
Both officers said that they appreciate the support their Air Force leadership and families have given them that helped them reach the career milestone.
According to the Air Force News, Col. Lawrence Kingsley, vice director of the 542nd CSW, said that he’s proud of the two outstanding officers.
Pina’s rank will change to captain on May 24, according to Belinda Pina. He and Florschuetz will begin their undergraduate pilot training at one of the program’s four locations in the near future.
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