1st RS instructor pilot surpasses 4,000 hours in T-38

Jon “Huggy” Huggins, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron instructor pilot, prepares T-38 Talon for flight March 23, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, California. On his way back from participating in an airshow in Columbus, Ohio, Huggy flew his 4,000th hour March 29, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan)

1st RS instructor pilot surpasses 4,000 hours in T-38

Jon “Huggy” Huggins, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron instructor pilot, walks across T-38 Talon apron prior to his flight March 23, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, California. On his way back from participating in an airshow in Columbus, Ohio, Huggy flew his 4,000th hour March 29, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan)

1st RS instructor pilot surpasses 4,000 hours in T-38

Jon “Huggy” Huggins, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron instructor pilot, prepares T-38 Talon for flight as a crew chief standby to direct Huggy for departure March 23, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, California. On his way back from participating in an airshow in Columbus, Ohio, Huggy flew his 4,000th hour March 29, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan)

1st RS instructor pilot surpasses 4,000 hours in T-38

Jon “Huggy” Huggins, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron instructor pilot, taxis a T-38 Talon March 23, 2022, at Beale Air Force Base, California. On his way back from participating in an airshow in Columbus, Ohio, Huggy flew his 4,000th hour March 29, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan)

1st RS instructor pilot surpasses 4,000 hours in T-38

Published April 1, 2022
By Staff Sgt. Ramon A. Adelan
9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, California --

37 years after commissioning, Jon “Huggy” Huggins, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron instructor pilot, flies past 4,000 flight hours in the T-38 Talon.

Huggy commissioned into the U.S. Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1985 after graduating from the University of Texas. His first assignment was to Laughlin AFB, Texas, as a T-38 instructor.

“As my first assignment was winding down, and I was getting ripe for an assignment, a friend of mine told me he was going to the U-2 [Dragon Lady program],” Huggy said. “I knew nothing about the U-2. This was late 1988, before the interne, so I asked him the same question I continue to hear till this day, ‘they still fly the U-2?’”

About 20 years of Huggy’s 28 year career was spent in the U-2 program where he accumulated approximately 2,600 hours in the U-2 and now 4,000 in the T-38.

“I ran the U-2 recruiting program for a long time, and the work I did to improve that made a difference,” Huggy said. “I spent a lot of time spreading the U-2 gospel and getting the right pilots to try to come join our ranks.”

After retiring in 2014, Huggy kept his roots in the aviation world taking a job as an executive director for an aviation club, flew commercially, announced and produced airshows, and also flew with the Patriots Jet Team. In 2020, Huggy returned to Beale to become the first civilian instructor pilot.

“My drive is to be a solid instructor and to teach new pilots how to fly the U-2 and T-38 well,” Huggy said. “I strived to be someone that they would find reliable, trustworthy and dedicated to the U-2 Program’s success.”