submitted by Carolyn Durnin
Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, was the setting recently as 1st Lt. Daniel A. Naske was awarded the coveted silver wings of an Air Force Pilot. The graduation ceremony was the culmination of 12 months of rigorous training, of which adrenaline, exhaustion and perseverance were daily components. Distinguished military brass on hand as Naske received his wings were Colonel George Ross, Vice Wing Commander, and Major General Harry Feucht, Jr., Assistant Adjutant General for Air and Commander of the Ohio National Guard. Family members present were parents Dave and Judy Naske, sister Katelyn Naske, wife Caitlin Durnin Naske, and in-laws John
and Carolyn Durnin, all of Grafton.
During the ceremony, the new pilots enacted the “Breaking of the Wings.” According to tradition, each pilot breaks his first set of wings into two pieces and, for good luck, gives one piece to a spouse or family member. “Never shall the two parts meet; only after the pilot has lived a long and prosperous life, at the final resting point, shall the two pieces be brought together.” Naske’s mother Judy and wife Caitlin each received one half of his wings.
Festivities continued into the evening at a formal military banquet hosted by Colonel Roger Watkins, Commander of the 14th Training Wing. In his address to family and friends in attendance, he remarked, “I don’t think these guys really have an appreciation yet of what it is that they’ve accomplished … because for the last 52 weeks, they’ve been going as hard and as fast as they were capable of going.”
During the banquet, Naske’s wife Caitlin, along with other spouses, was presented with a red rose in recognition of her love and support throughout the past year. Later during the banquet, Lt. Naske won a bottle of champagne, for the distinction of being the pilot from the smallest hometown, Grafton.
The night concluded with a toast by Squadron Commander Lt. Colonel Kelly Menozzi, “To Class 09-13, may your take-offs equal your landings, may you always have altitude below you and runway in front of you and, as you slip the surly bonds of earth, may you pursue the rest of your flying career with the same zeal that earned you your wings today.”
Naske trained on the Air Force’s newest training aircraft, the T-6A Texan II, a single engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cockpit that can reach an altitude of 18,000 feet in less than 6 minutes. During the final phase of training, Naske flew the T-1A Jayhawk, learning crew-concept flying and the fundamentals of formation airdrop.
Naske joins an elite group of 1,100 Air Force pilot graduates annually. His first assignment will be the MC-12, a small surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence aircraft rolled out by the Air Force for the first time in June. Following training, Naske will deploy to Afghanistan. After one year, Naske will begin a 4 year assignment at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, where he will fly the C-17 Globemaster III.
Naske holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University and is a 2003 graduate of Berlin Jr. Sr. High School.