Michael Rutledge

Michael Rutledge

About the author

is a 27 active duty year veteran with almost 12 years enlisted including a 3-year assignment as a Helicopter Rescue Swimmer, followed by 8 years as a Navy SEAL. While at SEAL Team One, he served as an M-60 gunner, Air Operations Specialist, Advanced Training Instructor, and Platoon Leading Petty Officer. In 2002, Mike transferred to the U.S. Army to become a Warrant Officer Aviator. Upon graduation from flight school, he was directly assigned to the "Night Stalkers" of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) where he served for 13 years as an MH-47G pilot. His current assignment is the Commander of the West Point Flight Detachment at the United States Military Academy. Mike is also an accomplished aviation author, consultant, speaker, and airshow pilot specializing in vintage WWII aircraft, as well as spending his summers flying crop dusters in the Midwest.

Aerial application; Flying fast and low for a noble cause

Aerial application is a relatively obscure flying profession piloting large, single seat, turbine tailwheel airplanes. Add that attraction to legally strafing the ground low and fast, dozens, if not hundreds of times a day. The catch? It’s extremely specialized, and requires the aviator to be half farmer, half fighter pilot (in that order). The best […]

A Navy SEAL relives his first day on the team

The Release Graduating from BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training is one of the most liberating emotions a man can experience. During the training, most of us never looked past our next meal, much less the next week or phase. Eventually, somewhere during land warfare in third phase I actually started to believe I might become a […]