NAEW&C Force member reaches 10,000 flying hours

GEILENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - On Monday, 22 January 2018, Captain Berthold "Kaiser” Wilhelm, Squadron 1 Air Defence Controller, reached 10,000 flying hours on the E-3A.

"It is a milestone that I wanted to reach before my retirement and having completed it is a real success”, Wilhelm said.

In the history of the E-3A Component only a handful of people have ever reached this milestone.

"Given the current average flying hours per year, it usually takes approximately 25 years to reach it”, Wilhelm said. "There has been a very select group that has had the chance to accomplish it. Reaching a four digit number is pretty easy, but the 10K sticks out with five digits.”

Wilhelm joined the German Air Force in July 1982 and has worked in Air Defence his whole career. Before joining the Component in 1994, he was stationed at three different radar units. Wilhelm did a three-year exchange tour to Waddington, United Kingdom, and flew on the E-3D.

Wilhelm has a very unique call sign, Kaiser, and was given this name due to his last name being Wilhelm. He received it in training to become an Air Defence Controller back in 1990. Kaiser Wilhelm was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 1888 to 1918.

Wilhelm will retire in March 2019.

Story by NAEW&C Force Public Affairs Office