Warriors of the North to test newest assets

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Croxon
  • Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Two Warriors of the North were selected to test and evaluate the latest Air Force weapon systems. 

Capt. Mark Graziano and Capt. Michael Davis, both pilots with the 319th Operations Group, were recently notified of their acceptance to the Air Force Test Pilot School. They were among eight multiengine pilots chosen Air Force wide. 

“This has been something I wanted to do since I first decided to become a pilot.” said Captain Graziano. 

“I am very excited and honored to be selected for Test Pilot School. I look forward to testing and developing future combat systems,” said Captain Davis. “This will be a great opportunity to fly several different types of aircraft.” 

The selection of two pilots from the same wing is uncommon to say the least. To put it in perspective; bomber, tanker and airlift pilots all competed for this year's eight slots. The odds were against two pilots from the same airframe, let alone the same wing. 

“I congratulate Captain Graziano and Captain Davis on their selection to attend Test Pilot School,” said Col. Lee Deremer, commander of the Ops Group. “These two talented instructor pilots are masters of their craft. They have superb histories of performance and deep engineering and math education backgrounds. All these qualities have combined to make these two successful in their two-year quest to pass the highly competitive Air Force board to select Test Pilot School students.” 

The selection process looks for very specific pilots. According to Captain Graziano, the school requires pilots to have science or engineering degrees as well as outstanding flying records. This focus on engineering makes test pilots unique. 

“My day-to-day duties only require my flying knowledge but as a test pilot I'll be able utilize both my flight experience and my education,” said Captain Graziano. 

Test pilots rely on their engineering backgrounds to communicate problems and concerns analytically so the designers know what to look for and how a test system should be modified. 

“After all, saying a plane flies weird doesn't give designers an idea of how to correct a problem,” noted Captain Graziano. 

Just because they are tanker pilots doesn't mean they will only test tankers. 

Like undergraduate pilot training where they began their careers by learning different airframes, as test pilots they will fly many different planes depending on what needs to be tested. 

“Upon completion of a grueling and highly technical program, they will be assigned to an Air Force-level flight test program, in which they will conduct sophisticated flight tests in multiple aircraft for our service,” said Colonel Deremer. “I couldn't be more pleased for them or more excited about their future service in our Air Force.”