Mark McCurley

He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1992 with a BS in Space Operations and started a career as an intelligence operator. He supported numerous military operations as a combat interrogator and earned the coveting CIA Exceptional Human Intelligence Collector Award in 1994.

 In 1995, Mark McCurley was selected to become an aviator. After graduating from pilot training, he flew numerous aircraft to include the E-3, F-15, T-1A, T-6A, T-37B, A/T-38, and U-2. Mark McCurley became an instructor pilot earning a reputation where he could teach anyone to land, even when all others failed. He published an article “Texans over Georgia,” for Torch magazine, outlining the development of the new T-6 aircraft as part of the Air Force’s pilot training program.

 In 2003, Mark McCurley volunteered for the secretive remotely piloted aircraft program to fly the RQ-1 Predator and later the MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9A Reaper. He quickly exercised his literary skills writing the baseline Tactics and Techniques Manual for the Predator. Prior to his retirement, he wrote an editorial for the Air Force titled, “Molding Generations of Air Force Superiority.”

 He now lives a quieter lifestyle conducting flight test for an aircraft manufacturer.