Raptor commander reflects, continues legacy

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Amanda Ferrell
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
The commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron will relinquish command today after devoting years of leadership and dedication to the "American Hornets." 

Lt. Col. Michael Stapleton, commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron, and a member of the original Raptor Formal Training Unit cadre, has been involved with Raptor training at the 43rd FS since its reactivation in 2002 here. 

The 43rd FS is creating a legacy of air dominance, and those contributing range from fighter weapons officers to maintenance crew chiefs, said Colonel Stapleton. 

"Our people are amazing," he said. "I am continually impressed with the kind of Americans who raise their hand and say, 'I want to defend this country,' and then come and join the ranks of the blue Air Force." 

Maintaining a training squadron is clearly a team effort, but leading the way in transformating a fledgling F-22 squadron into a fully operational and mission-ready force of Raptors was no easy task. 

"There have been a lot of struggles," said Colonel Stapleton. "Early in a weapon system development program its common to run into things that weren't expected. It's happened with every weapon system we have ever built. But at the end of the day, our folks - our team - bonded together and found ways to overcome challenges and we delivered exactly what the Air Force needed and then some." 

When initial operational capability was determined, and the number of capable pilots was evaluated, the 43rd FS had produced 125 percent of what the Air Force asked for, and we did it with half the resources we were expected to do it with, said Colonel Stapleton. 

"The difference was the blood, sweat and tears of our folks and the sacrifices they made," he said. 

Colonel Stapleton commends those committed to the success of the Raptor program here, and his foresight and leadership as a commander quickly propelled the Raptor program toward combat-readiness. 

"One of the key areas Colonel Stapleton took the lead on was designing and developing a training program that fostered transformational thinking," said Col. Jeffrey Harrigian, the first commander of the 43rd FS and the current Chief of the Joint Exercise Division at the NATO Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway. "Some of our pilot meetings required the ability to get folks to think differently, yet at the same time, we needed to leverage all the expertise we had from other fighter airframes. Colonel Stapleton got folks to communicate and come together to build the underpinning of the program being executed right now." 

Leading a Raptor training unit, Colonel Stapleton recognizes the need to consider every aspect of performance when engaging a weapons system that far surpasses anything the fighter community has tackled before. 

"The lessons learned from past fighter programs, such as the F-15 and F-16, were used as the foundation for the F-22 program here," said Colonel Stapleton. 

A group of experts from the fighter community offered guidance during the initial phases of the Raptor training program. Based on the challenges of previous fighter weapons systems, the experts knew that the technology was going to be great, but it was going to be unpredictable, said Colonel Stapleton. 

"In the early days there was a lot of consternation about how this aircraft was going to be flown," he said. "There was a lot of concern at the higher levels of the Air Force amongst some of the general officers about whether or not we had the right 'sight picture,' so they spent a lot of time making sure we had the right picture." 

"I can remember sitting in General Donald Cook's office one day, and it was during one of those high levels of concern," said the colonel about a meeting with the former commander of Air Education and Training Command. "We were on our way back from the Raptor Nation meeting with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who was our number one supporter and who gave us that sight picture." 

During the meeting, Stapleton said, the original Raptor cadre was entrusted with the responsibility to conduct Raptor training using tactically sound methods based on their own experiences and past lessons learned. 

"That was a huge lesson in leadership and the ability to take the risks on yourself as a leader and let your people excel," said Col. Stapleton. "Having the latitude to explore the 'rights and wrongs' of a new program and a new airplane got us on a tremendously solid path." 

Given the responsibility of turning a viable Raptor training program into a force of mission-ready Raptor pilots, Colonel Stapleton and the initial team of Raptor instructors at the 43rd FS tested tactics and operating procedures that had never before been executed. 

Operational risk is weighed heavily as pilots continue to create a new doctrine of tactics and global strike capabilities specific to the F-22. 

"We had to take some risks to find out how to tactically fly the Raptor," said Colonel Stapleton. "We had to try new things, so we took seven weapons officers from the squadron and put them all together in a room and started thinking about tactics - nothing was off the table. Colonel Harrigian was the commander at the time, and he started by getting us talking about the benefits of the airplane. We started talking about the speed, the sensors and the stealth. We started to put these ideas under the heat and pressure of these weapons officers with really big attitudes about how to fly fighters, and what came out of that was a totally different dynamic in how to achieve air dominance." 

"The frank discussions of tactics and the proper employment of the F-22's weapons systems were critical in the maturation of not only our pilots and those in the squadron, but of the entire Raptor program," said Colonel Harrigian. "This approach ensured that our folks were engaged and contributing to the plan, thus supporting our effort to build a prepared, cohesive team." 

A vision of unrivaled air superiority backed by sound judgment guided Colonel Stapleton's training philosophy. 

"I trust the judgment of every single instructor in the 43rd FS," he said. "We're talking about the future of air dominance, and the capability to provide freedom of movement through any battle space out there for our joint forces. Judgment was the key, and our instructor pilots know when they've pushed the envelope too far, and they know when it's time to bring it back home. They also know when to push the envelope little bit more. They know better than anyone else because they're the ones doing it." 

As an experienced pilot and a concerned leader, Colonel Stapleton continually judges situations from the perspective of fellow instructor pilots in the squadron. And sometimes, he said, that's hard to do. 

"I feel a little bit of pressure from the system and a lot of responsibility to the cost of this aircraft, but then my allegiance, my heart as a fighter pilot, is to that captain who's pushing the envelope for the Raptor community," he said. "It's a balance, but at the end of the day, it's their judgment that carries them and progress is made." 

The trust needed to be a part of the Raptor community reaches beyond the squadron's secure vaults and briefing rooms. Every component of the Raptor mission is a significant link to the program's success. 

"We have worked together on this program longer than any other pilot and maintainer at Tyndall," said Chief Master Sgt. Larry Aderholdt, 43rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit NCO in charge. "We respect and have trust and loyalty for one another. We've shared the same vision from the start." 

Cooperation between operational units and maintenance units is often the difference between mission success and failure. 

"Without his trust in my ability to do what's right, the AMU may not have seen as many successes as we have," said Chief Aderholdt. "Colonel Stapleton has a relationship with the maintainers on the line. To them, he's not the 43rd FS commander, he's Lt. Col. Stapleton, a guy you feel comfortable talking to about anything and who will listen and sincerely care about your opinions and concerns." 

Because of that relationship, said Chief Aderholdt, the maintainers are dedicated like no other group of folks I've worked with in 20 years of service. 

The impact Colonel Stapleton has made on the Raptor community transcends glass cockpits and discussions of tactical doctrine. He believes in creating a strong foundation for the training program here, and he's enthusiastic about the future of the Raptor. 

"It's a new aircraft - a new horizon - and it's very exciting to be on the leading edge of that," he said. 

His advice for those who continue to create and carry on the traditions of the "American Hornets" is to, "set the highest standards you can, and demand performance to those standards every day." 

"The most impressive leadership trait of his is the ability to communicate and motive folks," said Colonel Harrigian. "Whether it's a group of fighter pilots or members of Congress, his communication skills and passion for the program will make any American proud." 

Raptor training at the 43rd FS will continue to build upon the contributions made by Colonel Stapleton. 

"The accomplishments of the 43rd FS under Colonel Stapleton's leadership have been legendary," said Lt. Col. David Krumm, incoming commander of the 43rd FS. "Over the past four years, the challenges and obstacles of this new weapons system truly demanded revolutionary vision and solutions, and Colonel Stapleton provided both. I am honored to follow in his footsteps as the commander of the 43rd FS, and I plan to continue to advance his ideas and concepts for the Raptor and produce world-class F-22 pilots for the Combat Air Forces." 

The footsteps Colonel Stapleton leaves behind as commander of the 43rd FS can be traced back to what's most important to him. 

"There's no way I could do this without my family," said Colonel Stapleton. "There's no way I could be a part of something this big without them. It's not real to me until I go home and tell my kids and my wife about it - it's just not real to me. And it could be the most challenging thing in the world, but it doesn't set in until I share it with them and they become a part of it ... they've been fantastic." 

Lt. Col. Stapleton will be appointed as the deputy commander of the 325th Operations Group following the change of command.