For a few days, Columbus was home to some of the most advanced fighter jets in the world.
Twelve F-22 fighters on Wednesday stopped at Columbus Air Force Base, where they stayed intermittently until departing for Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base on Monday morning.
They came to CAFB for a few days in order to make room for an air show at LAFB, according to First Lt. Alex Gulick, one of the pilots.
CAFB is home to the 14th Flying Training Wing. While in town, the F-22 pilots spoke to the pilot training students with the hope of inspiring them to be fighter pilots.
“We were just trying to give them perspective on where you could end up,” Gulick said. “They don’t get a lot of fighter experience and exposure, being on a pilot training base because fighter pilots are in such high demand. They don’t really get to talk with fighter guys and talk about how awesome it is to be a fighter pilot.
“The goal there is just to expose them to a different type of flying and hopefully inspire them to become a fighter pilot one day,” he added.
Gulick graduated from CAFB’s training program in April 2014 as a member of the 14-10 class — the 10th class of the 2014 training year. Gulick is from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Now Gulick flies as a member of the 1st Fighter Wing’s 27th Fighter Squadron, based out of LAFB.
CAFB Public Affairs Chief Richard “Sonic” Johnson said the base likes hosting fighter pilots — especially ones who came through the Columbus base.
“We like it because it’s credibility,” Johnson said. “He can tell them, ‘I was just here — I was in class 14-10,’ and he can resonate with them. And it’s always great to have America’s combat power on our ramp. It’s a privilege to host them.”
Gulick said Air Force pilots fill out a “dream sheet” of planes they’d like to fly as they finish training. Gulick put the F-22 at the top of his dream sheet. He was ultimately selected to fly the plane, and went through another eight months of training to get acquainted with it.
“I was fortunate enough and the timing worked out perfectly so that I got the F-22,” he said. “It’s an awesome opportunity for me to be able to fly, and it’s an awesome jet.”
Gulick said he has not deployed on a combat mission yet, but all of the 27th Fighter Squadron jets have been in combat.
The F-22 is a fifth-generation air-superiority fighter, and Gulick said it’s “super intuitive” to fly. The fighter employs stealth technology and can cruise at speeds higher than Mach 1.5.
An F-22 costs $183 million, according to the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force had 183 of the fighters, as of Sept. 2015.
For Gulick, it can still be hard to believe he’s already flying his dream jet.
“It’s definitely kind of surreal still that I’m flying an F-22, and it’s an awesome privilege to represent the Air Force and the 27th Fighter Squadron being here,” he said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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