COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Nineteen Undergraduate Pilot Training student pilots of Class 24-11, graduated on July 11, 2024, at the Columbus Event Center on Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. The UPT graduation ceremony officially marks the completion of initial flight training in the T-6 Texan II as students earn their wings and begin the next phase of advanced pilot training for the Air Force’s newest pilots.
Pilots advance to graduate training in one of two new programs: Air Mobility Fundamentals, or Fighter/Bomber Fundamentals. These new programs, like UPT, capitalize on and incorporate modern training tools and methods that provide a unique advantage through innovation.
AMF currently leverages the “Mid-Tier Device,” a simulator that replicates the T-1A Jayhawk, to prepare graduates for mobility or tanker platforms. The Air Force’s first-ever F/BF class began at CAFB in June 2023. The new program both combines and streamlines legacy T-38 Graduate Pilot Training and T-38 Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals into a unified syllabus for graduates continuing to fighter or bomber platforms.
Colonel Andrew Lazar is the Air Force Chief of Weapons Safety, Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. In this role, he establishes and defines Department of the Air Force nuclear surety and weapons safety policy for the development and operational use of all nuclear, conventional, and directed energy weapons systems. Lazar also chairs several multi-agency boards performing policy and system safety oversight in support of certification and lifecycle management operations of these weapons systems.
Lazar graduated from the University of Pittsburgh earning his commission through the ROTC program in June 2001. After commissioning, he earned his pilot wings from Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma where he remained as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot. In 2006 he transitioned to special operations and over the course of his career has participated in multiple combat and contingency operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Horn of Africa, and Europe. He is a command pilot with more than 3,600 flight hours including 635 combat hours. He has served in a variety of flying squadrons as an instructor and evaluator pilot in the B-1B, T-6, and T-38. He commanded a T-6 squadron at Columbus AFB and served on the Joint Staff as the Director of the Joint Targeting School, Dam Neck Naval Air Station, Virginia.
Prior to his current assignment, Lazar was the Chief of the Weapons Division at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Headquarters where he oversaw operational test for a combat acquisition portfolio of aircraft, weapons, support, information, and space systems.
Students are also recognized with additional accolades through academic and professional military achievement such as: Order of Daedalians AETC Commander’s Trophy, Distinguished Graduate Award, Academic Award, Military Training Award and Flying Training Award.
CLASS 24-11 Graduates
2nd Lt Jason R. Beal
1st Lt Lance T. Chapman
1st Lt Nicole A. Coukart
2nd Lt Jean-Pierre B. Dedeaux
1st Michael F. Englehart
Capt Joshua P. Gallaher
2nd Lt Eli N. Gerkensmeyer
2nd Lt Stephen C. Haley
2nd Lt Mark D. Hill
2nd Lt Shawn M. Jackson
2nd Lt Tanner P. Jackson
2nd Lt Kevin T. Johnson
Capt Michael J. Mendoza
2nd Lt Robert B. Miller
Capt Sean J. Regan
1st Lt Masaiku Saiga
1st Lt Mark A. Schell
1st Lt Abby G. Stout
1st Lt Jack A. Zocher