Local High School Grad Is Commander Of Historic Flight Around The World For U.S. Air Force

Chasing the sun around the world. A Troy grade school and Minooka Community High School graduate who joined the Air Force Academy has had a trip of a lifetime. A mission that would take Air Force Col. Brent Toth around the world in Project Magellan. The most complex in his 24 years in service according to Col. Toth.

Air Force Col. Brent Toth needed to stay awake into the week morning hours as he prepared for an upcoming marathon mission that would usher him and a crew around the world in less than 48 hours.

Flying a KC – 46A Pegasus tanker nonstop around the globe takes stamina. For the McConnell-based airmen who recently pulled it off on REACHO46, it involved adjusting work-sleep cycles to synchronize with events, like crucial aerial refueling rendezvous that require razor-sharp focus, that helped make the sortie a success.

Toth joined the United States Air Force Academy in 2000. He became a KC 135 pilot (refueler) then went to war. Since then he also is a pilot of the C17 and the KC46. He is now a full Colonel and is the 22nd operations Group Commander at McConnell AFB Wichita, Kansas.  On July 1st Col. Toth completed an historic flight as he was the commander of the mission as they circumnavigated the globe nonstop in 45 hours.

Col. Toth spoke with WJOL, click here for the full interview.

To read more click here.

Reporting – AlphaMedia and Courtney Mabeus-Brown Air Force Times