VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Oklahoma — U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Andrew Hewins has graduated from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

The 54-week pilot training program begins with a six-week preflight phase of academics and physical training to prepare students for flight. The second phase, primary training, is conducted  in the single-engine, turboprop T-6A Texan II. Primary training takes approximately 23 weeks and includes 254 hours of ground instruction, 27 hours in the flight simulator and 89 hours in the T-6A aircraft.

After primary training, students select, by order of merit, advanced training in the fighter-bomber or airlift-tanker track. Training for the fighter track is done in the T-38C Talon, a tandem-seat, twin-engine supersonic jet. The airlift-tanker track uses the T-1A Jayhawk, the military version of a multi-place Beech Jet 400 business jet. Both tracks are approximately 26 weeks and are designed to best train pilots for successful transition to their follow-on aircraft and missions.  

Hewins is the son of Greg and Kathy Hewins of Vero Beach, Florida, brother of Adam Hewins of Yarmouth, grandson of Fran Pratt of Livermore Falls, and nephew of Lynn Beaudin of Monmouth and Pam Gardner of Comfrey, Minnesota.

He is a 2006 graduate of Vero Beach High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2011 from Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Montana.

U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Andrew Hewins receives his pilot wings during the Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 18-02 graduation ceremony held Nov. 17 at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Lieutenant Hewins will continue his flight training in the KC-10 Extender, the Air Mobility Commander’s advanced tanker and cargo aircraft designed to provide increased global mobility for U.S. armed forces. (Terry Wasson/U.S. Air Force photo)