In Service to America, Profile 6: Captain Ryan Phaneuf, U.S. Air Force

With minor edits for clarity and chronology, the following was written by Don and Nancy Phaneuf to honor their son, Captain Ryan Phaneuf – U.S. Air Force.

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Ryan Phaneuf was a graduate of the Hudson, NH, schools including the Presentation of Mary Academy in 2003 and Alvirne High School in 2007. He enrolled in the first class of Air Force 

Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) that was offered his freshman year and continued his involvement throughout his high school career. In 2006, Ryan was in the top 1% of 110,000 JROTC cadets worldwide and was selected to attend the Aerospace & Technology Honors Camp at the University of Oklahoma and Tinker Air Force Base. In 2007, he was nominated to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy in Washington, DC, an opportunity less than 1% of all high–achieving high school students are presented with. In his senior year, he was unanimously voted as the Cadet Colonel, the highest rank offered in Air Force JROTC.

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After his graduation from Alvirne in 2007, Ryan began his studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, FL where he continued to pursue his military career as an Air Force ROTC Cadet.  During these years, he completed a rigorous 4-week training program at Maxwell AFB, became a flight commander guiding underclassmen in leadership development and moved up to become a squadron commander responsible for the safety and accountability of the 350+ cadet wing members.  In his senior year, Ryan was considered a super senior in the Eagle Wing Detachment and was given the position of Vice-President. At ERAU he was also a member of the Arnold Air Society. In the fall of 2011, Ryan was selected to attend Undergraduate Pilot Training, achieving one of his dreams. He completed his studies earning a Bachelor of Science in Applied Meteorology and was commissioned into the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant on May 12, 2012.

Ryan then moved to Laughlin AFB, TX in the Summer of 2012 for pilot training, beginning in the T-6 and transitioning to the T-38. (The T-6 Texan is a single-engine aircraft used for training Air Force pilots since WWII. There are several different variations of the T-6. The T-38 is the Northrop T-38 Talon, a twin-engine, high-altitude, supersonic jet trainer aircraft that has been used for advanced pilot training since the 1960s. It’s the world’s first supersonic trainer.) 

Upon graduation from pilot training in April 2014, Ryan was selected to become a T-6 instructor with the 85th Flying Training Squadron at Laughlin AFB where he taught pilot accessions in contact, instrument, formation and low-level flight.  Ryan carried multiple titles in addition to Instructor Pilot such as Assistant Chief of Training, Training Officer, Category Check Pilot, and Flight Scheduler. In June 2017 Ryan was assigned to Dyess AFB, TX where he joined the 28th Bomb Squadron to learn to fly the B-1B Bomber.  Ryan finished  B-1B Basic Qualification at the top of his class, earning the title of Distinguished Graduate in June 2018. From there, Ryan was assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD. He was the Assistant Flight Commander of scheduling where he executed the squadron’s Flying Hour Program and Ready Aircrew Program for 14 B-1B’s and 71 aircrew. 

In November 2019, Ryan completed school for the Bombardier E-11A ahead of his voluntary deployment with the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Throughout his career, Ryan flew four different aircraft accruing over 1,300 flight hours. 

Captain Ryan Phaneuf received the following awards: NH Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with Combat Device, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one service star, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.  He also was awarded the following ribbons, Air Force Longevity Service, Air Force Special Duty, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship and Air Force Training. 

Captain Ryan S. Phaneuf, 30, formerly of Hudson NH, was on a voluntary deployment in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, when the aircraft he was co-piloting suffered catastrophic engine failure resulting in the aircraft crashing in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, January 27, 2020.  Captain Phaneuf is listed as the final Airman killed in operations in Afghanistan. 

Captain Phaneuf was a gifted aviator, and was a consummate instructor dedicated to education and inspiring everyone he met. The focus of his career and life was helping others, and a memorial fund has been established in his name as a continuation of his incredible legacy.  Through this memorial fund, his passion for helping others continues as it gives scholarships to the next generation of JROTC cadets who wish to pursue a career in aviation or military. www.CaptPhaneuf.org

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