An Enlisted Evolution, The making of a pilot and a daddy.

Courtesy Photo | 2nd Lt. Beau Deleon poses for a photograph on Jan. 22, 2015. (Courtesy photo)  

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, UNITED STATES

07.15.2016

Story by Master Sgt. Carl Clegg    

108th Wing

Where do goals come from? It’s probable that goals are just dreams with blueprints—the how to achieve the what. The goal to become a pilot, for DeLeon, came directly from the dream to fly. Now that he has accomplished his goal of being a pilot, DeLeon says, “my goal—short term, is to be the best pilot I can be.” From there he says, “I want to become an aircraft commander, an instructor pilot and move into the training shop and start mentoring young aviators. Mentorship is the spark catalyst that launched the piloting career of a young Airman 1st Class DeLeon in the 108th Wing’s former Contingency Response Group. “A day that sticks out in my head as the start of everything for me,” recalls DeLeon, “[retired] Col. [Robert] Brazel the first CRG Commander came into my office and really created that path for me with short term goals and stepping stones to make the long term goal a reality.” Brazel’s mentorship paid off for DeLeon, but not without considerable effort on his part.
DeLeon completed a Bachelor’s degree, got a private pilot’s license and then came the hard part—two years of intense, grueling and high-flying training. He learned how to wear his butter bar properly at the Academy of Military Science and then attended Undergraduate Pilot Training where he learned to fly the Air Force way in a T-6 Texan II and a T-1 Jayhawk—the T-1 being his bird of choice since, as it’s an executive aircraft, he can dispense with the g-suit—an apparently uncomfortable, super-sized blood pressure cuff worn by pilots on their lower extremities to keep from losing consciousness during high acceleration. Next was Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape school; well, it’s pretty obvious what he learned there. Every member of the Air Force who is a pilot or flight-crew member must learn the critical skills taught at SERE school in order to “Return with Honor” in the event of a crash landing. Finally, he learned to fly the KC-135 Stratotanker at Altus, OK. The KC-135 is a flying gas station that enables the Air Force to accomplish its mission to fly, fight and win by providing an air bridge to the fight for U.S. and NATO aircraft with much smaller gas tanks. As an Air National Guard pilot, DeLeon will fly the 60-year-old KC-135.
Just before his final KC-135 check-ride at UPT, DeLeon became a daddy. Again with the goals—Deleon promised his wife years earlier, that they would start a family once he was in flight school. “I wanted to be true to my promise” said DeLeon as proudly as if he were handing out blue cigars. “It’s the hardest and best thing that ever happened to me,” he continued about the birth of his son, Dylan, “It was fuel and motivation for me to be the best pilot, the best husband and the best father I could be.

Though his looks may remind some of a young Tom Cruise as Maverick in Top Gun, success, to the decidedly less flashy DeLeon, is measured differently than a picture of a Soviet fighter pilot in the cockpit of a Mig-28. The success DeLeon has seen and achieved in his 7-year Air Force career can only be attributed to old-fashioned sweat-effort, a common theme among immigrants and their children determined to achieve the American dream. “Work ethic, to me, means putting in that extra time chair flying—getting into the regulations—knowing the regulations.” He continues, “A lot of that stems from my enlisted career. A lot of my mentors and senior leadership saw the hard work I’d put in and you’re recognized for it.” It took no time at all for DeLeon’s leadership to see his extraordinary drive for excellence. After joining the Guard in 2009, he was nominated for and won 108th Wing Airman of the Year in 2010. He repeated that achievement in 2011 and subsequently won Airman of the Year for the state of New Jersey as well. He says their recognition was a driver and a motivator for him to continue to put in the effort. “I want my work ethic as an enlisted to transfer into my work ethic as an officer and as an aviator in the 108th.”

Humility is the takeaway for DeLeon in the transition from enlisted to officer. Being an officer “doesn’t mean you’re better than anyone else,” he says, “we are one team, one fight.” There’s a lot to learn for this young pilot and daddy. You have to learn to rely on those around you because hard work, humility, goals and plans, though necessary, are not mutually exclusive. Coaxing a one-year-old baby to eat and sleep is, right now, as much of a challenge as coaxing a 60-year-old airplane to fly and land. You can get through it all, but it’s helpful and reassuring to have an airplane commander in the seat next to you and a wife and grandparents as your burping and diaper changing co-pilots.

• Date Taken: 07.15.2016
• Date Posted: 07.15.2016 15:45
• Story ID: 204121
• Location: JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ, US