How else does one become a Renaissance Man except by having well-rounded parents.

 Growing up in the northwest, George’s father taught him sports, building projects, and good old hard work. He helped mow the lawn, wash the car, build a deck onto the family home, and even learned to build an electric motor from scratch. He joined the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts where he and his father climbed mountains together.

 Explorations also involved riding his red Sting Ray bike all over town and visiting Grandma’s house out in the country, where he got to ride horses and play chess. He spent many an hour building Lego airplanes and then ‘flew’ them across the living room on string, straight into the fireplace mantel landing zone. 

 George’s mom taught him the love of design, arts, music (including ten years of violin lessons) but George really loved baseball.  Starting at a very young age, his father and George, would play catch for hours in the front yard of the house in Corvallis, Oregon. He played baseball through his senior year of high school and became a Tri-County All-Star.  George also enjoyed basketball and football in junior high and high school.

 The love of flight took root at a very young age. His mother and father bought a Piper airplane when he was just a youngster.  It was very unusual in the 1960’s, but Marilyn, his mother, learned to fly and received her pilot’s license.  They went flying often and this is where he began dreaming of becoming an Air Force pilot one day.  He watched with fascination the growing space program and developments of new supersonic jets. By the time he reached high school, he had decided on his path, his destiny, and with great clarity set about achieving it with great determination.

George Bye’s Military Career

 Engineering School at UW and USAF ROTC: 

George attended the University of Washington in Seattle 1976-1980.  In addition to his engineering studies, he received a USAF pilot ROTC scholarship and rose through the cadet ranks. He graduated having achieved the rank of Cadet Colonel and ROTC Wing Commander and distinguished graduate.  Upon graduation in June of 1980, he earned both his Engineering degree and became a USAF 2nd Lieutenant.  As an ROTC Distinguished Graduate, George was offered the selection of his pilot training base, choosing Williams AFB in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.

 Undergraduate Pilot Training: 

George started USAF active duty and commenced Undergraduate Pilot Training in early 1981. There, he flew the subsonic and capable Cessna T-37 and later, the supersonic Northrop T-38 – an experience in which he both excelled and relished.  George earned his USAF pilot wings in March of 1982 and as a UPT Distinguished Graduate selected the strategic Lockheed C-141 jet transport at McChord AFB, near Seattle.

 T-38s at ENJJPT: 

After a successful tour in C-141’s at McChord AFB, his commander offered him the prestigious opportunity to fly T-38’s at the new NATO undergraduate pilot training program called “Euro-NATO-Joint-Jet-Pilot-Training” or “ENJJPT” in Wichita Falls, Texas.  The unique program was ‘fighter-pilot-only’ oriented in its training syllabus, combining many aspects of USAF UPT with fighter pilot flying skills – heavily emphasizing formation and tactical flight training and adding 2 additional, advanced “check rides” for the European NATO pilot candidates. Successful graduates from ENJJPT were selected to fly the most advanced jet fighters of the “Cold War” era.  As George progressed from 1983 through his 5-year tour at ENJJPT, he trained student pilots in the supersonic T-38. He also became an Applied Aerodynamics Instructor and updated the aerodynamics course text.  Later, George advanced to Chief of the T-38 Academics Branch.  He also began to instruct fellow pilots that were transitioning to their new instructor pilot duties at ENJJPT, the pilot instructor training (“PIT”) program.  George completed his ENJJPT tour with 1,000 flight hours in the supersonic T-38, a formative experience that would later be important to his future aerospace career.

 Desert Storm: 

In 1989, George returned to McChord AFB and the C-141 in a reserve squadron but was soon very active in worldwide missions to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with special contingency operations in Panama, Peru, and El Salvador.  In 1990, Desert Shield (later “Desert Storm”) commenced, and George was among the first re-called to active duty, to spend much of the war deployed flying missions into the Middle East from AFB bases in Europe.  The Desert Storm mission tempo was extreme, with 1,000 C-141 flying hours in a single year.  Following Desert Storm, George flew missions supporting US Contingency Ops in Somalia, finally leaving the Air Force in 1993 with almost 4,000 flight hours and a passion for aerospace.