LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Thirty-one U.S. Air Force officers were awarded the coveted silver wings as a symbol of their hard work and training during a graduation ceremony held May 1, 2025.
Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) is a training program that helps prepare prospective military pilots. Upon completion of the program, graduates earn their silver wings as Air Force aviators.
The guest speaker at the Class 25-09 graduation ceremony was U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Daniel Arneson, deputy commander of the 446th Operations Group (OG). Arneson assists the direction and management of flight operations for five squadrons that directly support Global Airlift Operations.
Commissioned by the Air Force ROTC program at the University of of North Dakota in 2002, Arneson was then sent to pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base. Once he graduated, he stayed at Laughlin as a T-1 FAIP in the 86th Flying Training Squadron. He is a command pilot with more that 5,000 hours, in the T-37, T-1, MC-12 and C-17. Notably, he is a veteran of the National Science Foundation’s Operation Deep Freeze mission, serving as an Instructor Pilot, and has over 1,500 combat hours that supported the Global War on Terror, spanning the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Asia and include Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.
Receiving their pilot wings during the ceremony were:
Capt. Hiep Du
2nd Lt. Fahad Alshehri
2nd Lt. Usama Bamieh
2nd Lt. Dillon Bronzoulis
2nd Lt. Braden Burkhart
2nd Lt. Trevor Craven
2nd Lt. John Dale
2nd Lt. Kapil Gadre
2nd Lt. Matthew Hagerty
2nd Lt. Cameron Judge-Becker
2nd Lt. Ryan Keating
2nd Lt. Eric Kenes
2nd Lt. Riley Kent
2nd Lt. Abraham Kinghorn
2nd Lt. Nicholas Krug
2nd Lt. Jordan Luiz
2nd Lt. Devin Lundberg
2nd Lt. Michael McClanahan
2nd Lt. Tyler Reohr
2nd Lt. Aaliyah Ricketts
2nd Lt. Nicholas Sheive
2nd Lt. Juan Simons Diaz
2nd Lt. Hunter Valentine
2nd Lt. Savier Vega Siurano
2nd Lt. Shane Vomund
2nd Lt. Benjamin Wanjura
2nd Lt. Devin Watson
2nd Lt. Travis Wayland
2nd Lt. Max Willson
2nd Lt. Grant Youngblood
2nd Lt. Kelvin Zheng
In addition to the graduation ceremony, a special emphasis was placed on recognizing the sacrifices and contributions of military spouses. It served as a reminder that while the graduates were the ones receiving their wings, their achievements were also a testament to the love, sacrifice and constant support of their spouses, who serve alongside them in spirit and strength.
“Tonight, we not only recognize the accomplishments of our pilots, but we take a moment to celebrate our Air Force spouses.” said Lt. Col. Aaron Borszich, 47th Student Squadron commander. “While not in uniform, spouses are the backbone of our Air Force community. We thank you for your love and support. We thank you for celebrating with us when we slip the surely bonds of earth. And we thank you for comforting and encouraging us after a flight does not go as planned. Tonight, you and your spouse have crested one of the hardest climbs in an Air Force career and you did it together. But this was just the start.”
The ceremony proceeded with the breaking of the wings, a tradition symbolizing the start of a new journey for the novice pilots. According to the tradition, the first pair of wings a pilot receives should never be worn. Instead, the wings should be broken into two halves to invite good fortune throughout the pilot’s aviation career. One half is kept by the pilot, while the other is given to a significant person in their life. To preserve that good luck, those two halves are said to only be brought together again in the next life.
The event culminated in the pinning of the wings, where friends and family members affixed a pair of silver wings onto the graduates’ uniforms. This gesture signified the official transition of the students into winged aviators, fully prepared to embrace the forthcoming roles within the United States Air Force.
Pilot wings are a symbol of hard work, training, and dedication. Aviation wings are issued to pilots who have achieved a certain level of proficiency or training.