Vance bids farewell to long-serving T-38 pilot Published Oct. 23, 2015 VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- He was among the first, and now, he’s the last. Lt. Col. Darren “Shead” McTee, a T-38 instructor pilot with the 5th Flying Training Squadron, retired Oct. 22, as the last of the initial cadre that helped stand up the Air Force Reserve Instructor Pilot Associate at Vance. McTee leaves as a legend. He’s spent 20 of his 28 years in the Air Force flying the T-38 Talon, teaching jet fighter pilots the intricacies of twin-engine, supersonic flight. “I've loved this airplane, I've loved the job of instructing students, but most of all I’ve loved the people who have been in the fifth,” said McTee. Some say McTee is a record holder. Then Lt. Col. Greg “Farb” Phillips, who hired McTee into the program in 1997, believes he “has more years in the T-38 than any other pilot in the Air Force, let alone the Reserve.” McTee has been continuously qualified as a T-38 instructor pilot for nearly 22 years. McTee spent 18 of his years at Vance serving as a traditional Reservist. He was also part of the original Air Education and Training Command’s Associate Program that blossomed into the current Reserve Associate unit program in the Air Force today, said Phillips. The 5th FTS is part of the 340th Flying Training Group, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas.