John Stratton (Air Force)

John C. Stratton is a former American soccer defender and currently an active duty U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot. He played one season of A-League soccer. Stratton also starred in the IMAX film Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag.

John C. Stratton
Captain Stratton signing movie poster
BornDenver, Colorado
Allegiance United States
Service/branchAir Force
RankCol
Battles/warsOIF, OSW, ONW, ONE
Association football career
Playing position(s) Defender
Youth career
1993–1996 Air Force Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997 Colorado Foxes
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Stratton was born in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Horizon High School in Thornton, Colorado. He then attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he played on the men's soccer team from 1993 to 1996.[1][2] He was a First Team All American his senior season.[3] Stratton graduated in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in political science.[1]

He spent the 1997 season with the Colorado Foxes, an A-League soccer team before attending Air Force flight training. Following his graduation from Air Force flight training in 1999, he embarked on a career as an F-15 pilot.[1]

Fighter Pilot film

Stratton was one of the three stars of the 2004 IMAX film Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag. The film documents Stratton's experience as an F-15 Eagle pilot at Red Flag, a United States Air Force combat training exercise held at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The film follows Stratton for two weeks at the Red Flag exercise. According to the film's voice-over, many of the training scenarios at Red Flag are more complex and dangerous than actual combat.[1][4] The film was premiered on 2 December 2004 at the National Air and Space Museum.[5]

References
  1. John Stratton: Fighter Pilot
  2. Air Force Men's Soccer
  3. "1996 NSCAA All Americans". Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
  4. Stevens, Dana, "Planes That Spin Heads (and Not a Few Stomachs)", The New York Times, 10 December 2004.
  5. "Fighter pilot film about teamwork, thrill of flight" Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, caption accompanying United States Air Force photograph (041202-F-3050V-135.jpg) by Master Sergeant James Varhegyi, United States Air Force on-line photo gallery, www.af.mil/photos, United States Air Force, Washington, 3 December 2004.
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