Local Tucson boy becomes December pilot for a day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jamie L. Coggan
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Marcos Pacheco, a 7-year-old Tucsonan with Leukemia, toured here Friday as this month's Pilot for a Day.

The Pilot for a Day program gives local children with illnesses an enjoyable day completely devoted to them and their interest in aviation.

Marcos lost his hair due to chemotherapy, but his hair has regrown due to reduced chemotherapy treatments.

Marcos brought along his father, Marcos Pacheco, mother, April Gutierrez, sister, Nicole Pacheco, and brothers, Joseph and Gabriel Pacheco.

Marcos' day began by meeting Maj. Neal "Krunch" Kistler, an aircrew performance officer and pilot assigned to the 357th Fighter Squadron here.

"I worked the behind the scenes aspect of the Pilot for a Day program, helping set everything up, from 2005-2007, but never had the chance to be the host Pilot," said Major Kistler. "When presented the opportunity I jumped at it. This program is by far one of the best "perks" of being an Air Force Pilot. I have seen huge, positive effects on not only the children, but the entire family when they come out."

"It is a great program, and they are a great family," he said.

Major Kistler took Marcos back to his squadron where Marcos put on his new flight suit, complete with a personalized name tag and squadron patches.

Next, Marcos and his family listened to a briefing and checked out life support gear and looked through night vision goggles.

After finishing up at the 357th FS, Major Kistler took Marcos and his family to the D-M Fire Department to meet the Airmen and see the fire trucks and then went on to see an A-10 display.

The next stop for Marcos and his family was the 79th Hangar to see an HC-130 static display, where Marcos got to tour the inside of the plane, and then over to the 55th Rescue Squadron where he was allowed to tour the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and look at all the equipment.

After they ate lunch, the group headed to the 355th Operations Support Squadron, where Marcos and his family all got to experience an A-10 simulator, a system that replicates flying an aircraft over a virtual map as realistically as possible, and to the control tower for a brief tour before heading back home.

The Pilot for a Day program, originated at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in 1994 and has since been implemented at several other Air Force bases. Davis-Monthan hosted its first program participant in August 2000, and the new program coordinators intend to organize and conduct one D-M visit per month.