{"id":23212048,"date":"2026-09-18T11:27:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/august-pfluger-only-air-force-fighter-pilot-congress-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T11:28:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:28:36","slug":"august-pfluger-only-air-force-fighter-pilot-congress-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/de\/august-pfluger-only-air-force-fighter-pilot-congress-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"One Fighter Pilot in Congress: August Pfluger Wants Wingmen"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>There are 96 military veterans in the United States Congress. Forty-five served in the Army, twenty-four in the Navy, twelve in the Marine Corps and fifteen in the Air Force.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Of those fifteen, exactly one flew fighters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Rep. August Pfluger of Texas flew the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-15-eagle\/\">F-15<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-22-raptor\/\">F-22<\/a>. At the Air Force Association&rsquo;s conference on 16 September he pointed out that the 119th Congress contains a record seven former Navy SEALs, and asked, in the politest possible terms, where everybody else had got to.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px;color:#1a1a1a\">Quick Facts<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Who:<\/strong> Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chairman of the Republican Study Committee<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Flew:<\/strong> F-15 and F-22 in the U.S. Air Force<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Distinction:<\/strong> The only former Air Force fighter pilot, and the only fifth-generation pilot, in Congress<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Veterans in Congress:<\/strong> 96 in total: 45 Army, 24 Navy, 15 Air Force, 12 Marine Corps<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Air Force share:<\/strong> 15.6 per cent of veteran members<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Space Force:<\/strong> No former Guardian has ever been elected to Congress<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Mach 1 caucus:<\/strong> Founded 2022 with four members. Now three<\/p><p style=\"margin:5px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.6\"><strong>Where he said it:<\/strong> AFA Air, Space &amp; Cyber conference, 16 September 2026, in conversation with Lt. Gen. David Deptula<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Who Else Is Up There<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Pfluger is not the only Air Force aviator on Capitol Hill, which is worth saying because the headline number can mislead.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska flew on the EC-130H Compass Call and the RC-135. Rep. Troy Downing of Montana served in combat search and rescue. Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa was an airborne intelligence officer. That is a respectable amount of aviation experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>But none of them flew a fighter, and none of them has flown a fifth-generation one. When the argument in a committee room turns to what an F-35 costs per hour or whether an F-22 fleet can be sustained, there is one member who has actually done the job.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/august-pfluger-official-photo.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"flex-shrink:0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/august-pfluger-official-photo.jpg\" alt=\"Rep. August Pfluger\" style=\"width:96px;height:96px;border-radius:50%;object-fit:cover;object-position:top;display:block;border:2px solid #ddd\"><\/a><div><em>&ldquo;I am the only fifth-generation pilot in Congress. I need some wingmen to come join me. God bless my Navy SEAL friends, and they are dear friends, but we&rsquo;ve got a lot of them in Congress. What we don&rsquo;t have is a lot of air and space expertise.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Rep. August Pfluger<\/strong> &mdash; R-Texas, at AFA Air, Space &amp; Cyber, 16 September 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Mach 1 Caucus Is Going the Wrong Way<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In 2022 Pfluger founded something called the Mach 1 caucus with three former Navy fighter pilots. Four members.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Four years and two elections later there are three: Pfluger, Rep. Jake Ellzey of Texas and Rep. Scott Franklin of Florida. A caucus of fighter pilots that is shrinking is not a promising trend line for an air force that needs to explain itself to 535 people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-15-eagle-and-f-22-raptor-formation.jpg\" alt=\"Two F-22 Raptors in formation with an F-15 Eagle\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">F-22 Raptors and an F-15 Eagle, the two types Pfluger flew. Nobody else currently in Congress has flown either as a fighter pilot. USAF photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What He Actually Wants<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Pfluger&rsquo;s argument is that the Department of the Air Force has carried a disproportionate share of recent operations and has not been funded accordingly. He listed Epic Fury, Midnight Hammer and Absolute Resolve as cases where, in his description, the department was there every single time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>His framing of the problem was blunt: the Air Force is the oldest and the smallest it has been, and he does not think it is too late to recapitalise. What he objects to is defence budget increases being divided evenly between services when the operational load is not divided evenly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>He also had a request for Air Force leadership, which is the sort of thing a member of Congress does not usually say out loud.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;We need Air Force leaders to be bold. We need you to be bold to tell the truth, to say we&rsquo;re underfunded.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Rep. August Pfluger<\/strong> &mdash; On what he wants from Air Force leaders<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Practical Ask: Multiyear Procurement<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Beyond advocacy, Pfluger pointed at a specific lever Congress controls. Multiyear procurement authority lets the Pentagon sign contracts spanning several years rather than renegotiating annually, which locks in lower prices and gives manufacturers a demand signal stable enough to justify building capacity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Congress has to approve each programme individually. It has already done so for a range of munitions, and members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have voted to authorise multiyear procurement for the F-35 and the F-15EX as part of the 2027 defence policy bill. That bill has not passed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Pfluger said he is very convinced the expanded authorities are close. Whether he is right will be visible in the F-35 and F-15EX lines within a year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ATrv_5izZSo\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777\">The State of the Air Force keynote from the same conference, where the recapitalisation argument was made from the uniformed side.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>There is something faintly absurd about a service that spends hundreds of billions of dollars having its case made on the floor of the House by one man who used to fly Raptors. Pfluger evidently thinks so too, which is why he keeps asking for wingmen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine; Air &amp; Space Forces Association; U.S. House of Representatives<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>How many Air Force veterans are in the U.S. Congress?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Fifteen, out of 96 veterans in total, which is 15.6 per cent. By comparison there are 45 Army veterans, 24 Navy veterans and 12 former Marines. No former Space Force Guardian has been elected to Congress.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Who is the only Air Force fighter pilot in Congress?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who flew the F-15 and the F-22 in the U.S. Air Force and chairs the Republican Study Committee. He describes himself as the only fifth-generation pilot in Congress.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Are there other Air Force aviators in Congress?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes, but no other fighter pilots. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska flew on the EC-130H and RC-135, Rep. Troy Downing of Montana served in combat search and rescue, and Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa was an airborne intelligence officer.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the Mach 1 caucus?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A congressional caucus of former fighter pilots founded by Pfluger in 2022 with three former Navy fighter pilots. It has since shrunk from four members to three: Pfluger, Rep. Jake Ellzey of Texas and Rep. Scott Franklin of Florida.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is multiyear procurement and why does it matter?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It is authority for the Pentagon to award contracts spanning several years rather than one at a time. It saves money by locking in prices and gives industry a stable demand signal to invest in capacity. Congress must approve it programme by programme.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Which aircraft could get multiyear procurement authority?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have voted to authorise multiyear procurement for the F-35 and the F-15EX as part of the 2027 defence policy bill, which is still pending. A range of munitions programmes already have the authority.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How many Air Force veterans are in the U.S. Congress?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Fifteen, out of 96 veterans in total, which is 15.6 per cent. By comparison there are 45 Army veterans, 24 Navy veterans and 12 former Marines. No former Space Force Guardian has been elected to Congress.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who is the only Air Force fighter pilot in Congress?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who flew the F-15 and the F-22 in the U.S. Air Force and chairs the Republican Study Committee. 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A range of munitions programmes already have the authority.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-fighter-fleet-below-congressional-minimum-crs-2026\/\">USAF Fighter Fleet: 47 Jets Below the Legal Minimum<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/usaf-new-build-f-16g-fighter-capacity-fy2028-2026\/\">Air Force Eyes New-Build F-16s: Meet the Proposed F-16G<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/air-national-guard-adjutants-general-72-100-fighters-letter-congress\/\">Guard Generals to Congress: 100 Fighters a Year<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Of 96 veterans in Congress, fifteen served in the Air Force and exactly one flew fighters. Rep. August Pfluger says that is why the Air Force struggles to make its case.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23211719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23212048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>August Pfluger: The Only Fighter Pilot in Congress | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fifteen of the 96 veterans in Congress served in the Air Force, and only one flew fighters. Rep. 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