9th ARS pilot refuels brother flying F-22

  • Published
  • By Capt. Vanessa Hillman
  • 60th AMW Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The Independence Day weekend is typically celebrated by families getting together for picnics and fun. Two Air Force pilots have taken this tradition to new heights.

Maj. Chris Hornburg, 9th Air Refueling Squadron instructor pilot was more excited than usual June 30 as he prepped for his 2-day fighter drag mission that took him from here to Hill Air Force Base, Utah to pick up a squadron of F-22 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base, Va. and escort them across the country to Tyndall AFB, Fla.

The reason for his excitement was that one of the six Raptors he was refueling was flown by his brother, Capt. Kevin Hornburg, 94th Fighter Squadron pilot, out of Langley.
The experience was out of the ordinary for both pilots.

"Being in different [aircraft] communities we have not had the opportunity to interact much during our career," said Major Hornburg. "It is a huge deal to me - being able to fly in the same formation with my brother and seeing him doing his job, which is very different than what we do here at Travis."
"I think it is a unique opportunity because we are from different communities," said Captain Hornburg. "I'm glad that we have the ability to make this happen."

Several events came together to make this trip unfold. The runway at Langley is closed for three months for repairs and Captain Hornburg's squadron spent some time at Hill before moving down to Tyndall for the remainder of that time.

"I was able work it so that I was on the trip that did the refueling," Major Hornburg said.
Being in a family of flyers [their father is retired Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, former fighter pilot and commander of Air Combat Command] one might think there was a lot of sibling rivalry growing up. According to Major Hornburg that is not the case between the brothers.
"We both moved around a lot when we were younger, so we took care of each other and gave one another support along the way," he said.

Major Hornburg is an Officer Training School graduate and initially was a maintenance officer before being picked up for pilot training where he flew C-17s for five years before switching to the KC-10 two years ago. Captain Hornburg went to the Air Force Academy and went to pilot training from there and flew F-15's for five years before switching over to the F-22 last year.

"[Kevin and I] have not had much of a rivalry during our careers," said Major Hornburg. "We have had similar career paths so far, but I have been in the mobility community and he has been in the fighter community," he continued.
Neither of the brothers felt pressured into the military from their dad, but just naturally began military careers.

"We both grew up in a military family and the military way of life is the only one I've ever known," said Major Hornburg.
"Our father never pushed us towards the military while we were growing up," said Captain Hornburg. "He left us to make our own decisions and we believe that the person we saw and the camaraderie and patriotism that we saw growing up drew us towards a career in the military."