LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- As a child, he grew up watching aviators, like his father, navigate the open air on a day to day basis.
For Capt. Michael Broyles, 335th Fighter Squadron weapons system officer, Laughlin skies are familiar. Now he has returned to Laughlin. Only this time as an aviator himself.
“I’ve lived here twice,” Broyles said. “The first time I was only a couple months old and don’t remember, but when I was about 12 [years old] I moved back.”
Broyles said that he spent his middle school and high school years here in Del Rio, making friends with a lot of other Laughlin children his age, and just “hanging out.”
Broyler’s mother, Jill Broyler, said that Broyler wasn’t extremely interested in flying as a child. He was more interested in military service as a whole, and has always loved his country.
“He always knew [that] he wanted to live a military life,” Jill Broyler, said. “When he found out that he got a weapons system officer slot, he told me ‘Mom, I joined to serve my country. This just means that I know my job now.’”
After completing combat systems officer training in Pensacola, Fla., Broyler certified as a WSO for the F-15E Strike Eagle at Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
Cross-country trips were becoming more frequent for the Strike Eagle, and Broyler jumped on the opportunity to showcase his aircraft at Laughlin in effort to help boost the F-15E program.
Broyler’s father, former Air Force pilot, is an aircraft simulator instructor here, and his mother lives here as well, working with the 47th Operations Group.
“I always came back to visit while on leave,” Broyler said. “Actually getting a stamped and approved memo saying that I can bring the Strike Eagle to Laughlin felt good.”
Broyler was given a chance to come home to family and bring part of his job with him.
Broyler said that having his parents, along with everyone else in attendance, watching him from the flight line felt amazing. Being able to see the excitement that his day-to-day job instills in people is a breath of fresh air, giving him renewed energy and confidence that he is on the right path.