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Home : News
NEWS | May 13, 2009

California Air Guard pilot graduates with top honors

By Lt. Col. John Cotter California National Guard

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas - Second Lt. Corbett "Cory" Sambol, a pilot from the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard, recently graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) here and took home five of the six top awards for pilot training.

The five awards are the Academic Excellence Award, the Flying Excellence Award, the Distinguished Graduate, the Top Formation Pilot and the Wing Commander's Trophy.

Guard officials said it is extremely rare for a pilot to earn five of the six prestigious awards upon graduation.

"His performance at pilot training was exceptional," said Lt. Col. Ray Lynott, a pilot for the 144th Fighter Wing. "One of Cory's instructors told me that he flew the T-38 like a 1,000-hour instructor pilot, (and) his (UPT) wing commander said, 'I wish he was an active-duty guy.'"

The Undergraduate Pilot Training program is a yearlong course. Student pilots first fly the T-6, mastering contact, instrument, low-level and formation flying. Next, they fly the T-38C and continue building the skills necessary to become a fighter pilot.

"It's obvious Cory did some great work at Sheppard Air Force Base," said Lynott. "He also set the bar extraordinarily high for (others), who follow him at Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training."

After graduating from UPT, pilots pin on the Air Force's coveted silver wings and then move on to train in their newly assigned aircraft.

Pilots in the 144FW, which is based in Fresno, Calif., fly the F-16.