Thunderbirds add new pilots, doc

The Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team announced July 20 its selection of four new pilots and a medical doctor to the team for the 2019 season. Next season will be the team’s 66th. In March-April 2019, the team will have two performances along the Gulf Coast on March 30-31 at Tyndall AFB, Fla. and April 13-14 over Biloxi, Miss. Lt. Col. John Caldwell, 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron Commander Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be Thunderbird No. 1, the squadron’s Commander and Leader. As the two-fold duty title implies, his responsibilities will include commanding a force of more than 120 enlisted personnel and 11 commissioned officers assigned to the Thunderbirds, along with leading all demonstration flights. In 2012, then-Maj. Caldwell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions as the pilot of an F-16 in response to several attacks on American and allied forces by the enemy while serving in Afghanistan in 2011. (Source: Air Combat Command 07/20-18)