PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD—Army Lt. Col. Steven W. Kihara will relieve Navy Cmdr. Paul A. Sohl as commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School during a change of command ceremony Jan. 13 here in Hangar 110. Kihara will become the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School's first Army commanding officer.

USNTPS provides instruction to experienced pilots, flight officers, and engineers in the processes and techniques of aircraft and systems test and evaluation. The school investigates and develops new flight test techniques, publishes manuals for use of the aviation test community for standardization of flight test techniques and project reporting, and conducts special projects. USNTPS maintains its staff as a focal point of expertise providing the aviation test community with engineering and training consultation.

Kihara was designated a Reserve Officer Training Corps Distinguished Military Graduate and commissioned in the Regular Army after graduating from Gonzaga University in May 1984. After initial Infantry officer training, he was inducted into Aviation branch upon completion of flight school and he was reassigned to the Army Acquisition Corps upon selection for U.S. Naval Test Pilot School attendance in January 1994.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Gonzaga University in 1984 and a master’s degree in Procurement and Acquisition Management from Webster University in 1999. Kihara’s military education includes the Infantry Officer Basic Course, the Aviation Officer Advanced Course, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army Materiel Acquisition Management Course. He attended both the U.S. Army Rotary- and Fixed-wing Aircraft Qualification Courses and has served as an Aeroscout Instructor Pilot in the OH-58A/C helicopter. A Master Army Aviator and graduate of Class 106, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School here in 1994, Kihara is certified as an Experimental Test Pilot. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots with approximately 3,500 flight hours in a total of over 60 aircraft.

Kihara has had various command and staff positions during 19 years of active military service. His assignments include positions as Platoon Leader, 214th Attack Helicopter Battalion, Ft. Lewis, Wash.; Platoon Leader, 5th Attack Helicopter Battalion/1-5 AVN (Attack), Ft. Polk, La.; Flight Operations Officer and Assistant S-3, 1-5 AVN (Attack) Ft. Polk, La.; Platoon Commander E CO 1-14th AVN, Aviation Training Brigade, Ft. Rucker, Ala; Commander A CO 1-2 AVN (Attack), Republic of South Korea.

Kihara’s research, development, test, evaluation and acquisition assignments include Test Project Officer and Experimental Test Pilot, Airworthiness Qualification Test Directorate, U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Experimental Test Pilot, Flight Test Directorate, ATTC, Fort Rucker, Ala., Experimental Test Pilot/U.K. Exchange Officer, Boscombe Down, England, and Experimental Test Pilot, Rapid Prototyping Division at the Aviation Applied Technology Directorate, Fort Eustis, Va. He assumed duties as executive officer of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in April 2003.

His awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Commendation Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Army Achievement Medal (with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster), Army Superior Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Overseas Ribbon, Master Army Aviator Badge, and Parachute Badge.

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