Page 23 - Appendix A

“banked” tanker on my drop night. I felt woefully unprepared on a personal general knowledge
level overall.

Sharing your experiences/thoughts. Please use this section to share any experiences or

thoughts on this topic from your experiences, the experiences of others, etc. that you feel are
relevant to the of the experience of black student pilots in Air Force pilot training.

When I arrived at UPT I was dismayed to set that there seemed to be a “washout mill” of
African American students. While AA instructors tried their best, and I truly appreciate it, I felt
as if the majority just really didn’t care, and didn’t do anything to correct the issue, to get to the
root cause or to try to stem the flow.

Why did I graduate from UPT? 1) The African American instructor pilots from different flights
that took the time to mentor me and continued to check on me, 2) I had an African American

female student pilot (Lt Col ret Monica Smith) who was 6 months ahead of me and mentored
me and assisted me in my studies, 3) my own drive and determination, and 4) My instructor Col
(ret) then Lt Kevin Mastin. He was determined that I would make it, gave my training his all,
and continued to follow me throughout my career. He went on to become a Thunderbird pilot
and an 0-6 before he retired.

It seems that things are different now than when I went through UPT. I see students excelling
and doing well. But still, overall our numbers are very low. And I saw very few to no AA UPT
students in my unit of the AF Reserve.

What year did you complete your training and at what location?

I completed my training in September of 1991. I was class 91-14 from Laughlin AFB, TX.

You are enjoying a successful career as a commercial airline pilot. How long have you been in

this career? In your estimation, based on your observations/experiences, have black student
pilots done better in training for the airlines than in the military and if so why do you think
that is?
I started class on Feb 2, 2001, with Alaska Airlines. I’ve flown the MD-80 and the 737. I’ve been
with Alaska Airlines for 16 years. To be honest, I’ve spent most of my time with the airline on
military leave (14 or so years lol!), but I will try my best to give me impressions.

For the airlines, the biggest hurdle seems to be getting minority pilots the foot in the door and

getting them hired at all. Most AA pilots do succeed from what I’ve seen once they get into the
door. What I have seen, read, and heard discussed about for the airlines is that they have
historically done a poor job of promoting and providing opportunities for AA pilots to serve in
senior management positions: chief pilot, VP of operations, instructor pilot and so on. I
understand that AA pilots from United Airlines in the 90s brought a lawsuit against the