THE DALLES — Travis Burdine always knew he wanted to be a pilot. As a child, he was inspired after watching the movie ‘Top Gun,” and while in high school, Burdine knew his parents would not be able to assist him financially when it came time to go to college. To him, attending the United States Air Force Academy made all the sense in the world.
“I always knew I wanted to go to college and ...
I always wanted to be a pilot, and so the Air Force Academy was a great opportunity to fly airplanes, get free college and get a job afterwards that would be fun and exciting, and so that was it,” Burdine said. Travis Burdine piloting an E-3 AWACS over Afghanistan while in the Air Force. Leaving his hometown of Portland, Oregon, Burdine attended the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1990, graduating as a 2nd Lieutenant with his Bachelor of Science of Management in 1994.
He gained his Master of Business Association (MBA) in Management from Wright State University in 1997, before he began training as a pilot at Laughlin Air Base in Del Rio, Texas. He learned to fly E-3B Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircrafts the following year. Over the years while in the USAF, Burdine also earned a master’s degree in military operational art and science from USAF Air Command and Staff College and a Master of Arts in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.
When stateside, most of Burdine’s day to day consisted of defen.
