Air Force Maj. Tyler “Slasher” Clark, a right-side formation pilot, said he was inspired to become a fighter pilot as a kid after seeing the US Navy’s Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.
“When you see the pilot get out of the cockpit, it was like, ‘Holy cow, someone is actually doing that,'” said Clark, who has been in the Air Force for 14 years.
“That’s when I knew exactly what I wanted to go do: one, fly fighters; and two, if the opportunity presented itself, I thought it’d be really cool to hopefully inspire that next generation by doing exactly what they did for me several years ago.”
The South Carolina native is the first Air National Guard pilot to join the demo team. Prior to joining the squadron, he flew the McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle as an evaluator and instructor pilot, logging nearly 2,000 flight hours.
Air Force Maj. Jeffrey “Simmer” Downie, one of two solo pilots on the demo team, spent about a decade flying the F-16 to qualify as a Thunderbird pilot.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy in 2013, he completed pilot training and fighter fundamental instruction. As an F-16 instructor and evaluator pilot, Downie logged over 1,600 flight hours, including nearly 400 combat hours in Afghanistan during Operations Freedom Sentinel and Resolute Support.