Reservist wins sixth TPS instructor award

  • Published
  • By Capt. Hien Q. Vu
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Trained flight test pilots and engineers are fundamental to success in aerospace flight test and evaluation. Not only do they possess the requisite flying skills, but they are also required to have the necessary scientific and engineering knowledge, critical and reasoned judgment, and managerial skills.

The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School here is assigned with that vital tasking of providing its students with the knowledge and training required of flight test pilots and engineers. To accomplish this mission, the school relies on its cadre of qualified instructors.

One of these instructors, Lt. Col. Mary Manning, a recently-retired Individual Mobilization Augmentee, stands out as the most current recipient of the prestigious Robert L. Wenning award. Voted by each class, the award goes to the most outstanding academic instructor as chosen by the graduates.

Colonel Manning received this most recent award from class 07A, which graduated in December.

"This was her sixth [Robert L. Wenning] award," said Brig. Gen. Jim Hogue, Mobilization Assistant to the Air Force Flight Test Center commander. "Six wins is a record for any instructor since the inception of the award, beginning with class 78A."

Colonel Manning, a flight test engineer and a 1991 TPS graduate herself, had previously received the award in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007.

"I'm honored to receive this award," said Colonel Manning, a Whitefish Bay, Wis., native. "It is certainly a highlight of my Air Force career. The list of previous award winners includes many very talented people and I'm blessed to be considered.among them."

She attributes some of her success as an instructor to one of her TPS instructors, Col. Raymond Jones, with whom she ties for the most awards given to an instructor.

"Colonel Jones was an excellent instructor. I borrowed many of his teaching techniques when I began teaching.," Colonel Manning said.

Colonel Manning began teaching Equations of Motion to class 98B.

"The goal of this course is to help students grasp the basic equations of motion of aircraft and also understand the why airplanes fly the way they do," she said.

For 15 years, until the day she retired from the Air Force Reserve, Colonel Manning spent her annual training and inactive duty training periods at TPS.

"I started out in curriculum development and then became an instructor," she said. "I loved teaching. It was an enjoyable experience to interact with these sharp, motivated students. Moreover, it was gratifying to overcome the challenge of presenting complex materials in a way that makes sense to them."

Colonel Manning currently works on designing test equipment used by flight test engineers in the private sector in Seattle, Wash.

"It was absolutely bittersweet to leave TPS and its amazing people," she said. "The staff and students are top-notch and dedicated to do their job, no matter how tough it may be."

The decision to retire was difficult to make, but looking back, she had a fulfilling career, she said.

"Thanks to the IMA program at Edwards as well as its strong leadership and support, reservists like myself have the opportunity to serve and do what we love to do."