U.S. Navy Photo by Liz Wolter.
United States Naval Test Pilot School Class 141, which graduated June 16, celebrated by having their photo taken along with the faculty June 15 in Hangar 110.
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USNTPS graduates Class 141
The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduated class 141 June 15 at the River's Edge Catering and Conference Center. Thirty-one students successfully completed an intense, 10-month course of instruction to be designated as test pilots and test naval flight officers.
Lt. Cmdr. G. Reid Wiseman, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School graduate and NASA astronaut, was the guest speaker. Wiseman was an F-14 Tomcat pilot initially assigned to Fighter Squadron 31 and made two deployments to the Middle East supporting Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
A graduate of TPS Class 125 Wiseman reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 2009 and completed astronaut candidate training in May 2011. He is scheduled to fly a six-month mission to the International Space Station launching on a Russian Soyuz rocket in May 2014.
Wiseman has flown more than 2,500 hours in 30 aircraft and logged 534 arrested landings. His military decorations include the Air Medal with Combat “V”, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” the Navy Achievement Medal and various campaign and service awards. Wiseman is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Tailhook Association.
Col. Roger L. Cordell, Commander, Naval Test Wing Atlantic, and Cmdr. Brandt A. Moslener, Commanding Officer USNTPS, handed out diplomas and congratulations to the new testers, hailing from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, and the United Kingdom.
Ron Carlson, Professor of Practice, Department of Systems Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, presented master’s degrees in Aeronautical Engineering to Lt. Devin P. Corrigan, Lt. Allan Jesperson and Lt. Daniel W. Person. The degree program is conducted in cooperation with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
Lt. Daniel Person received the Outstanding Developmental Phase II Award from Lt. Cmdr. John Holder, Royal Navy, representing the Empire Test Pilot School in Boscombe Down, U.K. This award recognizes one person in the class who produced the best final report, and is symbolic of the longstanding and mutually supporting relationship between the Empire Test Pilot School in the United Kingdom and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot.
Retired Capt. Bob Wirt, Vice President of the Patuxent River Council of the Navy League of the United States, presented the Sid Sherby Award to Army Maj. Mike Osmon. The award is presented to the student who displays exemplary leadership in the class. In 1945 Sid Sherby established the Test Pilot Training Division, which later became the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Anthony Koselke received the Commander Willie McCool Outstanding Student Award, which recognizes the top performing student in academics, flight performance and technical report writing. Lt. Col. Gregory Fortier, USNTPS Executive Officer, presented the award. The Willie McCool Award is sponsored by the Association of Naval Aviation and named after Cmdr. Willie McCool, a USNTPS alumnus who was tragically lost in the space shuttle Columbia accident.
Twenty-four students completed the requirements for the engineering test pilot course. The new test pilots are: Lt. Daniel E. Allen, Lt. Nathan D. Atkinson, Lt. Michael P. Bernard Jr., Lt. Patrick B. Bookey, Lt. Devin P. Corrigan, Lt. Collier C. Crouch, Flight Lt. Andrew L.C. Edgell, Royal Air Force, Lt. Seth J. Ervin, Lt. Allan Jesperson, Chief Warrant Officer Anthony H. Koselke USA, Lt. Charles A Larwood III, Lt. Troy A. Leveron, Capt. Rebecca R. Massey USMC, Maj. Zachariah G. Morford USA, Maj. Michael L. Osmon USA, Lt. Jose L. Pabon, Lt. Daniel W. Person, Lt. Daniel J. Peters, Maj. Kyle D. Petroskey USA, Lt. Joseph W. Pope, Lt. Daniel D. Ropp, Lt. Jon P. Silverberg, Capt. Derek G. Spear USAF and Maj. Jay M. Zarra USMC.
Seven students completed the engineering test flight officer course: Lt. Joshua R. Hattery, Lt. Marques D. Jackson, Lt. Jae Y. Kim, Lt. David J. Parnell, Lt. Nicole J. Pelton, Lt. Russell M. Rohring and Lt. Eric J. Stone.