Reserve Citizen Airman Maj. Jozsef Jonas, 47th Fighter Squadron, is the 944th FW Instructor Pilot of the Year for 2021.
Jonas instructed 57 student flights over 86 total missions and 164 hours of instruction while implementing a $46 million flying hour program that certified 31 pilots backed by SECDEF vision.
Jonas facilitated a syllabus rewrite working with three organizations and 40 instructor pilots. The syllabus curriculum aligned with Commemorative Air Force requirements and increased A-10 lethality/survivability. Jonas guided 12 student pilots for their initial qualifying course and maximized pilot proficiency capabilities. He was selected as best instructor out of 37 instructor pilots for the 47th Fighter Squadron.
Jonas embodied the whole airman concept by volunteering 96 hours with a local Civil Air Patrol Chapter where he instructed/mentored 30 future Air Force aviators’ basic flight principles. He also completed over 250 flight hours and earned a civilian certified flying instructor licensed that helped bridge military and civilian training gap.
944th Fighter Wing announces 2021 IWSO of the Year
Reserve Citizen Airman Lt. Col. Nicholas Foster, 307th Fighter Squadron, is the 944th FW Instructor Weapon Systems Officer of the Year for 2021.
Foster led a team of four weapon systems instructors, led 81 flights, and held nine evaluations to total 857 academic hours.
His efforts facilitated the graduation of 60 aircrew to five wings. Foster authored KC-46 academics by creating training plans for 480 aircrew and standardized F-15E refueling operations with KC-46 aircraft Air Force wide. He also led a 20-member bi-annual training review board, along with the largest F-15E syllabi change in four years. The changes shaped initial qualification training to meet operations requirements. Foster also served as an F-15E tactical mentor for Intel formal training course. Throughout the course he evaluated 25 objectives over four capstone examples and verified 31 Airmen ready for operations. Foster went on to complete Air War College.
He studied more than 180 hours for eight classes ultimately enhancing his leadership capabilities to model an upstanding TFI officer.