By Jeff Mullin
Special to The Citizen

Carl Crane was the best at what he did.

The Texas native was an aviation pioneer, an early proponent of instrument flight and an instructor pilot who flew the first fully automatic instrument landing.

Capt. Brandon Williams, an instructor pilot with the 25th Flying Training Squadron at Vance Air Force Base, has likewise been judged the best at what he does.

Thus, he was awarded the Col. Carl Crane Award at a ceremony April 24.

The award is given annually by the Order of Daedalians, the nation’s premier fraternal organization of military pilots. It is presented to the top graduate of Pilot Instructor Training at Randolph AFB, San Antonio.

Williams was chosen from among all PIT graduates in all airframes (T-6, T-1 and T-38). PIT is a four-month program.

Williams is the son of photographer Gene and Hazel Williams, long time residents of Fayette County. He is a 1996 graduate of Sandy Creek High School, and The Air Force Academy graduate class of 2000.Williams said he was surprised and pleased by the award.
“I just thought it was probably top guy in my class or something,” Williams said. “It wasn’t until about a week ago Col. Atteberry (Lt. Col. Chris Atteberry, 25th FTS commander) told me I had won this award and explained it to me, I was pretty surprised.
“Obviously I’m honored, considering how many people go through PIT.”

Williams was nominated for a number of reasons, but the primary number was one, which was his position at the top of all 158 T-38 PIT graduates in 2006. He answered 100 percent of exam questions correctly, was the top flier in his class and was lauded for his leadership. He also holds a 4.0 grade-point average in course work for his master’s of aviation science.

In addition, Williams was honored for his actions during two in-flight emergencies, one at PIT and once since arriving at Vance in December. The one at Randolph involved a T-38’s right engine shutting down after a bird was sucked into the intake as the jet was preparing to land.

The jet was in a diving turn when the engine shut down, so Williams and the other rated pilot with whom he was flying gave the working engine full power, flew around the field so a chase ship could do an inspection, then landed safely.
In the Vance emergency, Williams was flying with a student when one of the two hydraulic systems in his jet malfunctioned, leaving him with no backup. The landing gear didn’t work normally, so a chase ship inspected the crippled jet’s landing gear to make sure it was down and locked, and Williams was able to land the plane safely.

“I was very excited,” Atteberry said of his reaction when he learned of Williams’ award. “This really is a big deal. It’s a great honor, and it’s exciting because it means I’ve got a real top performer in my squadron now. Not that I don’t have a lot of top performers already, but it’s great to have that type of recognition.”

Williams is assistant flight commander for K-Flight. He has more than 1,000 hours of flying time, including more than 300 hours in combat in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The F-15E pilot says he enjoys the challenge of being an instructor pilot.

“It’s kind of a rewarding experience to take a guy off the street, who basically can’t even spell airplane, and when he leaves here he can take off and fly by himself safely,” Williams said.

Atteberry said Williams will serve as an inspiration for his fellow instructors as well as his students.

“This is an award that’s all about training,” Atteberry said. “We’re confident our students are getting outstanding instruction anyway, but when we have somebody here who has been recognized for his instructional ability, it just makes the quality of our training that much greater.”

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