FORT FAIRFIELD — Air Force 2nd Lt. Derek R. Rodgerson has received silver pilot’s wings after graduating from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) at Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas.
The SUPT is a 52-week training program consisting of a three-week preflight phase I, which includes academics and physiology training for flight preparation. The second phase, primary training, is conducted in the twin-engine, subsonic T-37 Tweet aircraft to learn flight characteristics, emergency procedures, takeoff and landing procedures, aerobatics, and formation flying.
After the T-37 training, students select advanced training in the fighter-bomber track, tanker-transport track, turboprop aircraft track or helicopter track. Each track is designed to best train pilots for successful transition to their follow-on aircraft and mission.
The fighter-bomber track trains in the T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, the tanker-transport track trains in the T-1A Jayhawk, the military small version of a passenger business jet. The turboprop aircraft track trains in the C-130 Hercules aircraft, and the helicopter track trains in utility helicopters.
Lt. Rodgerson will be assigned as a pilot of the C-17 aircraft at McChord Air Force Base, Wash.
He is the son of Reggie Rodgerson of South Portland.
His wife, Brianna, is the daughter of Brian Blanchard of Fort Fairfield.
In 2000, he graduated from Hampden Academy and received a bachelor’s degree in 2004 from Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, N.H. He earned a master’s degree in 2005 from Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla.
