By BRIAN SERAILE
NAS Patuxent River Public Affairs Department

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, MD—Marine Corps Maj. John Albers is the lead developmental test pilot and project officer for the C/KC-130J Hercules aircraft, one of DoD’s and the Marine Corps’ most highly visible projects.

During evenings and weekends he teaches Sunday School to adults, Bible study to children and leads a weekly Bible study for officers and government civilians.

His speaking and leadership skills have earned him two invitations to speak to the Texas Governor’s Honor Guard.

Those accomplishments during and after work are among the reasons he recently received the Admiral Merlin O’Neill Officer of the Year Award.

The Southern Maryland Chapter of the Retired Officers Association established the award in 1981 to recognize officers for superior performance and leadership. Volunteer activities and community service are also factors in the selection process.

In his nomination, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Randal Black wrote that Albers represents the “ideal personification” of a career military officer and gentleman.

“He has no equals among his peers in professional knowledge, dedication and achievement and is a role model for junior and mid-grade Navy and Marine Corps officers within this command,” Black wrote.

Black also wrote that Albers has made “significant contributions to the community and sets high personal standards that our youth can proudly emulate.”

Albers, 34, says he would not have gotten the award without the help of those with him.
“Obviously my off-duty pursuits are mine and my family’s but my accomplishments here at work in large part [are due to] the people I get to work with,” Albers said. “A leader is only as good as the people around him. You can have a great team with great people who won’t succeed, but you’ll never have a great team if you don’t have good people around you.”

The married father of a daughter, 6, and two sons, a 4-year-old and a 16-month-old, is a 2000 graduate of U.S. Navy Test Pilot School Class 117.

He decided to become a pilot because of his stepfather.

“My stepdad was a career Air Force guy, so I grew up looking at airplanes,” Albers said. “I always wanted to be a pilot from the time I was about 9 years old.”

Working on the KC-130J project has been especially rewarding.

“I’m fortunate to be able to influence a lot and have a lot of say on this new airplane and how it goes to the fleet to be used, so there is a lot of responsibility with that,” he said. “We’ve got a great team of people here I get to work with.”

The KC-130J tanker aircraft here have been testing a new, all-digital, electrically-driven air refueling pod aboard the tankers that will replace the old, hydraulically-operated hose systems. Lockheed started testing the new pod in 1999, after three years of development, and the pod has gone through several iterations of testing here.

The KC-130J can carry nearly 41 tons of fuel and can refuel two aircraft simultaneously, at airpeeds of about 185 knots to 250, about 15 to 20 knots faster than earlier tankers.

-USN-

Marine Corps Maj. John Albers