Air Force 2nd Lt. Reese J. Swanson has graduated from
specialized undergraduate pilot training (SUPT) at Columbus Air
Force Base, Miss.
Swanson earned silver wings with an aeronautical rating of pilot
in the Air Force.
Air Force 2nd Lt. Reese J. Swanson has graduated from specialized undergraduate pilot training (SUPT) at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.
Swanson earned silver wings with an aeronautical rating of pilot in the Air Force.
Student pilots start the year-long program by attending a three-week preflight phase of academics and physiology training for flight preparation, followed by phase two primary training conducted in T-37 Tweet aircraft to learn flight characteristics, emergency procedures, takeoff and landing procedures, aerobatics, and formation flying.
Students also practice night, instrument and cross-country navigation.
Each training phase includes extensive hours of ground events, flight simulator, day and night flying and flight-related instruction.
After primary training, students move on to advanced training in one of several tracks.
Students selected for fighter-bomber assignments fly the T-38A aircraft; airlift-tanker students fly the T-1A aircraft; multi-engine turboprop students fly the C-130 aircraft, and helicopter students fly the UH-1 Huey at their assigned bases or stations.
Swanson is the son of Bonnie Banta Hollister and Jeffery Swanson of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Swanson graduated in 1998 from Gilroy High School.
Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Alexis F. Gonzalez, daughter of Cindy R. Campbell of Watsonville and Marcos M. Gonzalez of Gilroy recently graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and was commissioned to her current rank in the United States Marine Corps.
Gonzalez successfully completed four years of intensive academic, physical and professional training, resulting in a bachelor of science degree with a major in oceanography.
As a graduate of the Naval Academy, Gonzalez completed a four-year, total-immersion program where a strong, balanced academic program focused on the educational needs of the Navy and Marine Corps, is superimposed on a strict, professional military training environment emphasizing the development of leadership skills.
Considered one of the top institutions in the country, the U.S. Naval Academy was founded in 1845.
Gonzalez is a 1999 graduate of Aptos High School.
