Another ENJJPT pilot hits the 3,000-hour mark

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tonnette Thompson
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  In December 1989, at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., a lieutenant logged his first hour piloting a T-37 Tweet jet.

More than 17 years later, that same man - his brown hair now flecked with grey, and bronze oak leaves replacing the butter bars - piloted a T-37 into his 3,000th hour of active flying.

Maj. Jeff Grayson, a reservist from Randolph AFB, TX, marked this milestone in his career with Sheppard's 97th Flying Training Squadron Feb. 23.
For the major, the accomplishment paled in comparison to the method in which he achieved it.

"I didn't feel any different," he recalled. "It was like watching the odometer roll over in your car. What got me, what always gets me, is the thrill of flying itself. Just being in the air, that was the highlight for me - no more, no less."

What struck the major as more noteworthy was the availability of the jet itself.

"I really didn't expect the T-37 to still be here," he admitted. "In the spring of '91, we were briefed that the T-37 would be replaced, and we would likely be the last unit to fly it. We were told that by 1994, the Tweet would be gone."

The T-6 turbo-prop trainer, called the Texan II, is tentatively scheduled to begin phasing out the T-37 next year.

"I sometimes joke that the Air Force promised me a ride in that new jet, and I'm not leaving until I get it," Major Grayson said.

When the major touched down that Friday afternoon, accompanied by fellow 97th FTS reservist and instructor pilot Maj. John Koski, their squadron commander from Randolph AFB, Col. Robert Williamson of the 340th Flying Training Group, awaited them - as did about half of the 80th Flying Training Wing, waiting to break open a bottle of champagne. 

Major Grayson joins a solid list of performers who've logged more than 3,000 hours in the T-37 at Sheppard. Eight other pilots in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program hold the title, and another three are less than 180 hours away from joining their ranks.