FighterSweep Fans, here is an awesome story which caught our attention over the last few days comes from our good friends over at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE). Brothers flying during the same time period in any branch of service is fairly rare. What’s even more rare is to find those brothers flying the same aircraft–let alone at the same base. Commanding units, at the same base, for one of the more rare aircraft types in the USAF’s inventory? That’s pretty impressive. For those who don’t know them, say hello to Col. Pete Fesler, Commander of the 1st Fighter Wing, and Lt. Col. Micah Fesler, Commander of the 149th Fighter Squadron.
Pete Fesler has the image of the first time he flew with his younger brother Micah in the Air Force burned into his memory.
They were in F-15s, training for air-to-air combat in Alaska about 15 years ago and ended up alongside each other as their simulated battle raged.
“I very specifically remember looking over at the other airplane sitting about 2 miles off of my wing and thinking, ‘That’s my brother, and nobody can beat us right now.’ It was like an emotional force multiplier,” Pete Fesler said.
Brothers Colonel Pete “Coach” Fesler, left, and Lieutenant Colonel Micah “Zeus” Fesler, right, share a lighter moment during their inventory. (Photo by The N. Phan/Virginian-Pilot)
“That’s the first time it happened, and we have had that happen multiple times in our career since then. I can’t think of anybody else, if we had to go to war, he’s the guy I’d want to go with. No doubt about it.”
Pete and Micah Fesler, sons of a steelworker, grew up in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, sharing dreams of flying jets like the ones they saw at nearby Hill Air Force Base.
But the pair not only fly, they also each command a complement of the Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet at Langley Air Force Base, the F-22 Raptor.
Col. Pete Fesler, 44, heads the Air Force’s 1st Fighter Wing. Lt. Col. Micah Fesler, 41, directs the Virginia Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Squadron.
Please go check out the original article, which can be read in its entirety at the Virginian-Pilot right here.
(Feature photo by Jonathan Derden)