LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Twenty-two U.S. Air Force officers were awarded the coveted silver wings as a symbol of their hard work and training during a graduation ceremony held Jan. 30, 2025.
Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) is a training program that helps prepare prospective military pilots. Upon completion of the program, graduates earn their silver wings as Air Force aviators.
The guest speaker at the Class 25-05 graduation ceremony was retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Hostage. Hostage began his aviation journey at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma, where he completed Undergraduate Pilot Training. Following his training he was selected to be a T-38C First Assignment Instructor Pilot before going on to fly the F-16C and F-15C. He has served in command positions at the squadron, group, and wing levels. As the former Air Combat Command commander, he was responsible for organizing, training, equipping and maintaining combat-ready forces for rapid deployment and employment while ensuring strategic air defense forces are ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime defense. Hostage is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, and a command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours. He has flown combat missions in multiple aircraft, logging more than 600 combat hours in operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.
Receiving their pilot wings during the ceremony were:
Capt. John Palmisano
1st Lt. Kevin Lim
1st Lt. Thomas McCloskey
1st Lt. Kyle Smith
2nd Lt. Nathaniel Bassett
2nd Lt. Racardo Bell
2nd Lt. Christopher Benc
2nd Lt. Daniel Berring
2nd Lt. Jared Bezold
2nd Lt. Christian Gabriel
2nd Lt. Owen Gainer
2nd Lt. Joshua Gray
2nd Lt. Joely Gruhn
2nd Lt. Michael Guillotte
2nd Lt. David Hargrave
2nd Lt. Dalton Malone
2nd Lt. John Pirrello Jr.
2nd Lt. Maxime Reznik
2nd Lt. Connor Skidmore
2nd Lt. Samuel Sparling
2nd Lt. Chad Wilder
2nd Lt. Thomas Wright
In addition to the graduation ceremony, a special emphasis was placed on recognizing the sacrifices and contributions of military spouses. It served as a reminder that while the graduates were the ones receiving their wings, their achievements were also a testament to the love, sacrifice and constant support of their spouses, who serve alongside them in spirit and strength.
“Military spouses are often said to ‘live in the shadows’,” said Lt Col. Aaron Borszich, commander of the 47th Student Squadron. “Although not in uniform, spouses have an essential role to play and are the backbone of the military community. Tonight is about your pilots earning their wings, but also a recognition of you. Your love, sacrifice and ad nauseam quizzing of bold face procedures has not gone unnoticed.”
The ceremony proceeded with the breaking of the wings, a tradition symbolizing the start of a new journey for the novice pilots. According to the tradition, the first pair of wings a pilot receives should never be worn. Instead, the wings should be broken into two halves to invite good fortune throughout the pilot’s aviation career. One half is kept by the pilot, while the other is given to a significant person in their life. To preserve that good luck, those two halves are said to only be brought together again in the next life.
The event culminated in the pinning of the wings, where friends and family members affixed a pair of silver wings onto the graduates’ uniforms. This gesture signified the official transition of the students into winged aviators, fully prepared to embrace the forthcoming roles within the United States Air Force.
Pilot wings are a symbol of hard work, training, and dedication. Aviation wings are issued to pilots who have achieved a certain level of proficiency or training.