Army Now Running Navy Test Pilot School
USNTPS provides instruction to experienced pilots, flight officers, and engineers in the processes and techniques of aircraft and systems test and evaluation. The school investigates and develops new flight test techniques, publishes manuals for use of the aviation test community for standardization of flight test techniques and project reporting, and conducts special projects. USNTPS maintains its staff as a focal point of expertise providing the aviation test community with engineering and training consultation.
Kihara was designated a Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Military Graduate and commissioned in the Regular Army after graduating from Gonzaga University in May 1984. After initial Infantry officer training, he was inducted into Aviation branch upon completion of flight school and he was reassigned to the Army Acquisition Corps upon selection for U.S. Naval Test Pilot School attendance in January 1994.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Gonzaga University in 1984 and a master’s degree in Procurement and Acquisition Management from Webster University in 1999. Kihara’s military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Aviation Officer Advanced Course, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army Materiel Acquisition Management Course. He attended both the U.S. Army Rotary- and Fixed-wing Aircraft Qualification Courses and has served as an Aeroscout Instructor Pilot in the OH-58A/C helicopter. A Master Army Aviator and graduate of Class 106, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School here in 1994, Kihara is certified as an Experimental Test Pilot. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots with approximately 3,500 flight hours in a total of over 60 aircraft.
Kihara has had various command and staff positions during 19 years of active military service. His assignments include positions as Platoon Leader, 214th Attack Helicopter Battalion, Ft. Lewis, Wash.; Platoon Leader, 5th Attack Helicopter Battalion/1-5 AVN (Attack), Ft. Polk, La.; Flight Operations Officer and Assistant S-3, 1-5 AVN (Attack) Ft. Polk, La.; Platoon Commander E CO 1-14th AVN, Aviation Training Brigade, Ft. Rucker, Ala; Commander A CO 1-2 AVN (Attack), Republic of South Korea.
Kihara’s research, development, test, evaluation and acquisition assignments include Test Project Officer and Experimental Test Pilot, Airworthiness Qualification Test Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Experimental Test Pilot, Flight Test Directorate, ATTC, Fort Rucker, Ala., Experimental Test Pilot/U.K. Exchange Officer, Boscombe Down, England, and Experimental Test Pilot, Rapid Prototyping Division at the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, Fort Eustis, Va. He assumed duties as executive officer of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in April 2003.
His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Superior Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Overseas Ribbon, Master Army Aviator Badge, and Parachute Badge.
Sohl graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He continued his education at Stanford University, receiving a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in June 1986.
After commissioning through the Navy ROTC program, Sohl attended flight training in Pensacola, Fla., and Beeville, Texas—earning his Wings in August 1988. Later that year he reported to VFA-125 in Lemoore, Calif. for training in the F/A-18 Hornet, with a subsequent assignment to the Stingers of VFA-113. While in VFA-113, he deployed to the Western Pacific on the USS Independence during Operation Desert Shield.
In the summer of 1992, Sohl was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School here. Upon graduation with USNTPS Class 104 in 1993, he reported to the F/A-18 Weapons Test Squadron, China Lake, Calif., working on numerous F/A-18C Operational Flight Program upgrade projects. While on this assignment, Sohl was selected as an aerospace engineering duty officer. He was also selected as “Test Pilot of the Year” for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in 1995.
His first assignment as an AEDO was to the Naval Aviation Depot, North Island, Calif., working as the Deputy Program Manager for the F/A-18 program. In August 1998 he reported to the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office in Crystal City, Virginia—first as the Executive Assistant to the Director, then as a member of the JSF Source Selection Team. He reported aboard the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as Executive Officer in August 2001 and took over as the Commanding Officer in April 2003.
Sohl has logged more than 2,700 flight hours in over 30 types of aircraft. His personal decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.
-USN-
Lt. Col. Steven W. Kihara
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