U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Graduates Class 152

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (January 12, 2018)—The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS) held a graduation ceremony for Class 152 at the Holiday Inn, Solomons, Dec. 15.

The 34 students in the class successfully completed an intense 11-month course of instruction and were designated as Engineering Developmental Test Pilots, Test Flight Officers, and Test Engineers.

Delivering the keynote address was former USNTPS instructor and Class 87 graduate Michael Carriker, chief engineering pilot, Boeing Test and Evaluation; and chief pilot, Airplane Development, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Rear Adm. Shane Gahagan, Commander, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division; Capt. Thomas Tennant, Commander, Naval Test Wing Atlantic; and Cmdr. William E.R. Hargreaves, commanding officer, USNTPS, presented diplomas and offered congratulations to the new "testers".

Graduates included members of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force; students from Australia, Great Britain, Finland, and Italy; and civil service engineers from the Departments of the Army, Navy and NASA.

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Nathan Houle was presented the Outstanding Developmental Phase II Award from Royal Navy Cmdr. Stephen Crockatt, representing Empire Test Pilots' School in Boscombe Down, United Kingdom. This award recognizes that individual in the class who produced the best final report and is symbolic of the long standing and mutually supporting relationship between the Empire Test Pilots' School in the United Kingdom and USNTPS.

Mr. Alan Flint, a NASA engineer, was awarded the Commander Willie McCool Outstanding Student Award which recognizes the top performing student in the categories of academics, flight performance and technical report writing. The award, presented by Tom Ganse, representing the Association of Naval Aviation, is named after a USNTPS alumnus who was tragically lost in the space shuttle Columbia accident.

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Adam Madson was presented with the Syd Sherby Leadership Award by James S. Moran, representing the Patuxent River Council of the Navy League of the United States. That award, presented to the student who displays exemplary leadership in the class, is named after Capt. Sydney Sherby, who established the test pilot training division—now the USNTPS—in 1945.

The following 24 students completed the requirements for the engineering test pilot course, and the new test pilots are:

• National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Corps Lt. Cmdr. Adam D. Abitbol

• U.S. Navy Lt. Robert E. Ball III

• U.S. Marine Corps Capt. James M. Cappabianca

• U.S. Air Force Capt. Derek J. Carden

• U.S. Navy Lt. David M. Chapelle

• U.S. Navy Lt. Matthew J. Dickens

• British Army Air Corps Maj. Peter G. Farrimond

• U.S. Navy Lt. Noah J. Gray

• U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Benjamin D. Hartley

• U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Nathan E. Houle

• U.S. Army Capt. Nathan A. Klein

• U. S. Navy Lt. Daniel M. Krier

• U.S. Navy Lt. James M. Licata

• Finnish Air Force Capt. Mikko P.P. Luukkanen

• U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Adam M. Madson

• U.S. Army Capt. Michael J. Monfreda

• U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Aaron E. Okun

• U.S. Army Capt. Daniel L. Pechacek

• U.S. Navy Lt. Christopher A. Polhemus

• Royal Australian Air Force Sqn. Ldr. Mark Searle

• U.S. Army CW2 Zealand D. Shouse

• Italian Air Force Capt. Davide Sottotetti

• U.S. Navy Lt. Megan J. Stateler

• U.S. Navy Lt. Neil W. Whitesell

Five students completed the engineering test flight officer course:

• U.S. Navy Lt. Sarah E. Gunn

• U.S. Navy Lt. Jason D. Miller

• U.S. Navy Lt Ryan W. Miller

• U.S. Navy Lt. Tara A. Palmer

• U.S. Navy Lt. Kyle J. Saraceni

Five students fulfilled the requirements for the test project-engineering course:

• Benjamin D. Breitberg, NAWCAD

• Alan N. R. Flint, NASA

• Andrew J. Macemon, Department of the Army

• Justine M. Roemer, NAWCAD

• Royal Australian Air Force Flt. Lt. Aaron P. Thompson