Edwards AFB News

USAF Test Pilot School instructor conquers Mount Everest

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TIBET, Nepal --  A Navy exchange instructor for the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., considers May 16 as the day he was on the top of the world. 

Lt. Cmdr. Michael Hsu, a graduate of the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School, climbed and reached the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal. 

Commander Hsu spent more than 45 days traveling to Mount Everest through Tibet and preparing for his summit attempt. He reached the 29,035-foot summit of the highest mountain in the world at 10 a.m. on May 16. During his 15 minutes at the top of the world, Commander Hsu planted both the U.S. flag and Edwards' TPS flag. 

He started mountain climbing in 2003, Commander Hsu said. While stationed at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., he volunteered for service with Sea Air and Land, more commonly known as the Navy SEALs, in Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Commander Hsu said he was inspired by the SEALs' and Air Force combat controllers' determination and culture of fitness. Upon returning, he climbed Mount Whitney in California with three squadron-mates during a morale, welfare and recreation program offered by the Navy on July 4, 2003, and participated in a safety course offered by the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group. 

Since then, Commander Hsu has climbed several other mountains with summits of more than 14,000 feet in California and Colorado, including 11 summits of Mount Whitney. He also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount McKinley in Alaska. Most recently, he traveled to the Himalayas and climbed Cho Oyu, the sixth tallest mountain in the world at 26,906 feet tall. 

"The military offers us many opportunities to accomplish great things, and I have been very fortunate to have commanding officers who have supported and encouraged my hobby," Commander Hsu said. 

Commander Hsu's Everest expedition was the first in TPS' history. 

"Commander Hsu's accomplishments show the outstanding breadth and depth of our faculty," said Col. Andre Gerner, TPS commandant. "Our instructors are much more than just the sum of their impressive academic and flight test experience." 

For now, Commander Hsu is looking forward to returning and resuming instructor duties in the T-38 Talon and F-16 Fighting Falcon. 

"As far as outdoor activities, I will limit myself in the near-term to climbing at Outdoor Recreation's rock wall and short hiking trips into the Sierras," Commander Hsu said. "But in a couple years, who knows?"