Air Force Capt. Dia A. Beshara has graduated from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The 54-week pilot training program began with a six-week preflight phase of academics and physical training to prepare students for flight. The second phase, primary training, was conducted in the single-engine, turboprop T-6A Texan II. Primary training takes approximately 23 weeks and includes 254 hours of ground instruction, 27 hours in the flight simulator and 89 hours in the T-6A aircraft.
After primary training, students select, by order of merit, advanced training in the fighter-bomber or airlift-tanker track. Training for the fighter track is done in the T-38C Talon, a tandem-seat, twin-engine supersonic jet. The airlift-tanker track uses the T-1A Jayhawk, the military version of a multi-place Beech Jet 400 business jet. Both tracks are approximately 26 weeks and are designed to best train pilots for successful transition to their follow-on aircraft and missions.
Beshara is the son of Mona and Amal Beshara of Parlin and brother of Hana Beshara of Newark. He is a 2002 graduate of Sayreville War Memorial High School in Sayreville. He earned a master’s degree in 2006 from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.