Major John Mitchell retires to become test pilot

Major Mitchell ends one career and starts another.

Major John Mitchell, USAF, completed 20 years of active service and retired on March 30 in a ceremony at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

The guest speaker, Colonel Hugh E. Smith, USAF (Retired), spoke of his memories of Major Mitchell during the years they served together. Major Mitchell followed with a poignant recounting of his time in service. He spoke of both good times and hard times, remembered friends he had lost, and thanked his family for their support.

A family video slide show produced by Mrs. Mitchell displayed photos of Major Mitchell throughout his years in the Air Force. Finally, Commander Brian Whitten, Commanding Officer of VT-10, presented Major Mitchell with several gifts, including a propeller blade painted in the checkered green and white of the VT-10 Wildcats.

Major Mitchell in Mt Clemens, Mich. on January 5, 1962. He graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Earth Sciences in 1986. Upon graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant via the USAF ROTC program. In March of 1987 he reported to Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) at Reese AFB near Lubbock, Texas. Upon winging, Major Mitchell was assigned to B-52 Combat Crew Training at Castle AFB, California.

Following B-52 training, in January 1989, Major Mitchell reported to the 524th Bomb Squadron, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. In January 1991 Major Mitchell was part of the initial B-52 crew cadre sent to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to form the 1708th Bomb Squadron for combat operations during DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. During DESERT STORM Major Mitchell flew 26 combat missions and dropped over 1,000,000 pounds of ordnance.

Following the closure of Wurtsmith AFB, Major Mitchell was assigned to the 23rd Bomb Squadron, Minot AFB, ND. While there he served as B-52H Training Flight Instructor and B-52H Standardization/ Evaluation Pilot.

In December 1994, Major Mitchell was invited to interview and was selected for the USAF's elite U-2 program. In his almost nine years assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Major Mitchell flew U-2 operational and combat missions throughout the world. He also led and participated in numerous U-2 aircraft and systems test efforts.

In September 2003 Major Mitchell reported to Training Squadron TEN on board NAS Pensacola. While assigned to VT-10 he served as T-6 Instructor Pilot, Academic Training Officer and Senior Air Force Advisor.

Major Mitchell retires as a Command Pilot with over 4,500 military flight hours in the B- 52G/H, T-37B, U-2R/S/RT/ST, T-38A, T-6A, T-1A, KC-135A, C-130E, F-16D and EA-6B. He has logged over 400 combat hours in the B-52 and U-2.

He also logged flight time in the French Air Force Mirage 2000, Mirage III, Jaguar, Alpha Jet and the British Royal Air Force Hawk.

Following his retirement, Major Mitchell will serve as a Staff Test Pilot with Lockheed Martin's legendary Skunk Works division.