There are many heroes out there that you have never heard of. Lt Col Craig Andrle, Air Force F-16 fighter pilot is one of those heroes.

Lt Col Andrle just joined a very exclusive group, logging 1000 combat flight hours. Congratulations!

The 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander reached a milestone – 1,000 combat hours in an F-16 Fighting Falcon – after flying a sortie March 20, 2017 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Craig Andrle joined an elite group, one of four F-16 pilots, lieutenant colonel and below, currently serving in the U.S. Air Force who have flown 1,000 combat hours in an F-16.

Andrle has deployed four times during his 17 years in the Air Force, including twice at Balad Air Base, Iraq; once at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan; and his current deployment as the 79th EFS commander here.

“That’s a lot of time spent deployed to get to that,” said Andrle. “To me, it is a milestone. It’s something that I’ve spent my career practicing and preparing to do – take the F-16 to war. To do that for 1,000 hours is pretty special.” – DVIDS

That is an amazing milestone and one that should be recognized and Fighter Sweep is honored to pass the news of his acomplishment on.

Featured image of Lt. Col. Craig Andrle, 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander, speaking to squadron members after flying his 1,000th combat hour March 20, 2017 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Photo by Staff Sgt. Katherine Spessa, US Air Force