| |
S.C.
Sen. Phil Leventis and his wife, E.V., are pictured here
surrounded by friends when he returned from Operation Desert
Storm in 1991. Leventis flew 21 combat missions over Kuwait
and Iraq. He later received the Distinguished Flying Cross,
one of the Air Force's top honors.
|
Phil Leventis received a commission as an Air Force second lieutenant
following graduation in 1969 from the University of Virginia.
He reported for active duty in July of that year to begin his
training as an Air Force pilot. His training started the same
week the first U.S. astronauts first landed on the moon.
"Every
time you get in a jet, the outcome depends on your judgment,"
Leventis says. "Being a jet fighter pilot taught me about
independence, responsibility, critical thinking and decision-making.
I learned you can't put things off and duck responsibility. You've
got to know the system."
A year later
after completing Undergraduate Pilot Training, Leventis reported
for duty as a flight instructor in the jet training program at
Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. He instructed in the T-38
advanced jet trainer and trained U.S. and German Air Force students
until January 1974.
A fighter pilot at home
Leventis
reported to McEntire Air National Guard Base, near Columbia on
Feb. 1, 1974 and became a fighter pilot in the South Carolina
Air National Guard. During his tenure in the SCANG, he trained
and flew the F-102 Interceptor, the A-7 fighter/bomber and the
F-16 fighter.
He deployed with the SCANG to Norway, England, Panama and Saudi
Arabia. His flying career spanned 28 years. He amassed more than
3,600 hours of flying time in jet aircraft. More than 2,000 hours
were spent in single seat, single engine fighter jets.
Leventis
was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in March 1998. A
year later, he was retired after almost 30 years of service. His
last assignment was as Assistant Adjutant General for Air for
South Carolina and Commander of the South Carolina Air National
Guard.
"The
highlight of my military service was in 1991 when I volunteered
for combat duty in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War," Leventis
says.
During the
conflict, he served as a fighter pilot and an operational planner.
Following 21 combat missions over Kuwait and Iraq, he received
the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
Awarded
the Distinguished Flying Cross
Leventis
also received the Distinguished Flying Cross for a mission over
enemy territory on Feb. 4, 1991. During that mission, he attacked
an anti-aircraft battery firing on his flight of four F-16 jets.
The battery posed a deadly threat to four other F-16s from his
unit that were about to enter the same area. As enemy guns blazed,
Leventis hit them with bombs to eliminate the danger to fellow
American pilots.
"Each
day I flew to bomb the enemy, I would pass over tens of thousands
of young American and allied soldiers just south of Kuwait preparing
for combat," Leventis remembers. "Seeing those people,
some little older than my sons, I knew I was doing something very
important for our country and for the families that sent those
young men."
Phil Leventis is a life member of the South Carolina National
Guard Association and the National Guard Association of the United
States. Also a life long private aviator, in 2006 Phil Leventis
was named the South Carolina Aviator of the Year and inducted
into the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame.
MORE:
public service l small
business l family
|
