Fighter Jet News

F-16 Fighting Falcon News

944th pilot aims high and logs 4,000 flying hours

January 18, 2015 (by SSgt. Lausanne Kinder) - Col. Gregory Jones, 944th Operations Group commander, completed 4000 flying hours in the F-16 Fighting Falcon, January 9, 2015.

Col. Gregory Jones (right), 944th OG commander, is congratulated by Col. Kurt Gallegos, 944th FW commander, after completing 4000 hours of flying on January 9th, 2015 at Luke AFB. Jones and Gallegos are two out of 42 pilots in the Air Force who have reached this milestone. [USAF photo by SSgt. Lausanne Kinder]

He first flew the F-16 in 1990 when he went through the training course here; after 25 years of service, he reached a milestone that very few pilots are able to achieve.

"I've been lucky in that I've consistently been assigned to jobs that included flying the F-16," said Jones. "The Air Force Reserve is definitely a great place to be for a tenured flying career."

There are only 42 pilots who have flown over 4000 hours and only one other here at Luke, Col. Kurt Gallegos, 944th FW commander.

Although Jones is being recognized, he credits the people who have helped him with this accomplishment.

"It's important to highlight the impressive job the F-16 maintenance community does efficiently generating safe and effective aircraft for both training and combat missions."

Jones' next assignment is to the 10th Air Force Fort Worth after completing his time here as OG commander.


Courtesy of 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Additional images:

F-16 Fighting Falcon - 4000 Flight Hours patch [Asif Shamim Collection]