Robert Mitchell

This is Mitchell’s second NAFI Master Accreditation. Mitchell has dedicated most of his adult life to military and civilian flight instruction. He has been an active FAA certificated flight instructor for 34 consecutive years and has flown more than 8,000 flight hours, including 500 combat flight hours. He currently works for CAE, a Canadian manufacturer of simulation technologies and training services to airlines as an advanced instructor pilot, specializing in upset prevention and recovery training in support of the U.S. Army Fixed-Wing Flight Training program in Dothan, Alabama. He owns and operates Strikehawk Aviation, a full-time flight training school in Enterprise, Alabama. Mitchell volunteers much of his time to organizations such as the EAA Young Eagles program and the Troy University Air Force ROTC You Can Fly Scholarship program. 

Mitchell recently retired after serving 30 years in the United States Army. As a career aeromedical evacuation officer, he served in numerous command and staff positions, including two combat tours. In 2004-2005, he served as a Medevac battalion commander in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired in 2014 with the rank of colonel. He is a graduate of the University of Toledo, where he was a starting wide receiver for the Rocket football team. He holds master’s degrees from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the U.S. Army War College. He is a member of the Distinguished Alumni and Athletic Hall of Fame at his high school, as well as a member of the DUSTOFF Association Hall of Fame.