PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, Pa. -- Members of the National Association of Priest Pilots took a tour of the installation here, July 13, 2016.
The NAPP, or “Flying Padres,” consists of Catholic priests with pilot licenses and their supporters. They use their particular aviation skills to support people, churches and priests in remote areas.
Members of the organization visited the base, received a mission brief from 911th Operations Group Commander Col. Joseph Potts, and toured a C-130 Hercules.
“We're grateful to the 911th Airlift Wing for making an aircraft and crew available to our organization to answer our questions,” said Nick Radloff, seminarian and member of the NAPP. “Aviators are always learning. Gaining insight to different aircraft and how they are used allows a pilot to think of something they otherwise would not have and incorporate it in to his or her flying.”
The tour may have been centered on aircraft and pilots, but it served as more than just an aviation-based learning experience for the priests who were able to attend.
“Not only did we see the aircraft used, but Col. Potts gave us some great insight into the issues confronting the men and women of the 911th AW,” said Radloff. “As reservists, these are men and women that we could encounter in a parish. Knowing what they are faced with can enable effective ministry.”
Radloff, who is a former navigator with the 79th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, and other NAPP members valued the experience and information they gained from the Airmen they encountered, he said.
“We appreciate all of the hard work that went in to making us feel welcome,” he said.