Chris Kurek

Chris Kurek

Officer, Fighter Pilot

Followers of Chris Kurek505 followers
location of Chris KurekFort Worth, Texas, United States

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Pilot

  • Education

    • Bishop Kelley High School

      1990 - 1994
    • The University of Texas at Austin - Red McCombs School of Business

      2014 - 2015
      Master of Science (MS) Technology Commercialization
    • United States Air Force Academy

      1994 - 1998
      B.S. History

      Activities and Societies: Soaring Instructor Pilot, Intercollegiate Boxing Team

  • Experience

    • US Air Force

      May 1998 - Jun 2008
      Officer, Fighter Pilot

      - Maintained combat readiness in the F-16C aircraft; awarded Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in combat- Taught fighter combat fundamentals to over 300 US and International pilots

    • OPERATION ENCORE

      Nov 2003 - now
      Co-Founder

      - Created Operation Encore to record, publish and promote original music by Active-Duty military and Veteran artists- Launched & operated record label; released 5 full-length music albums; sold 50,000+ units (CDs and digital downloads)

    • Corsair Engineering

      Nov 2007 - Jul 2008
      Subject Matter Expert

      - Collaborated with 10-member Pilot Training Instructional Systems Design team that created inaugural training system for all 3 variants of the F- 35 Joint Strike Fighter

    • L-3 Communications

      Aug 2008 - Sept 2009
      Systems Engineer - Test Director

      - Streamlined all hardware/software integration (HSI) activities by combining multiple baselines from previous programs with emerging technologies; reduced costs by $100K and trimmed HSI timeline by 3 weeks- Directed all test activities for the Danish Air Force F-16 and US Air Force C-27 simulator programs; verified 2,000 individual requirements while remaining $500K below budget; achieved 100% on-schedule customer acceptance

    • Lockheed Martin

      Jan 2010 - Jun 2012
      Senior Ground Flight Instructor

      - Designed complete overhaul of initial training syllabus within 2 weeks of arrival in country; created new course training standards and 1,000 new learning objectives/test questions, optimized course flow for 120 flight and simulator events; quick response to customer's need led to huge turn-around in working relationship, avoiding $3M contract penalty- Instructed 100 Saudi cadets as Weapons Systems Officers; Consistently produced certified aircrew in F-15S strike fighter from students who at course entry averaged 19 yrs of age, 6 months of English training, and 6th grade math equivalency- Developed RSAF's first-ever electronic Training Management System (TMS); reduced yearly manpower requirements by 75K man-hours by eliminating task of managing paper training records for 300 students in a 250 event syllabus Show less

    • Contractor

      Jun 2012 - Aug 2013
      Aviation and Training Consultant

      - Conducted complex, 4-5 month long technical, operational and market research for start-up aviation firms attempting to acquire business contracts within newly-formed Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG); Successfully guided 2 companies without prior aviation experience to achieving certification as Aviation Training Organizations- Produced deliverables packages that the KRG has adopted as their standard for all future proposals

    • JoCo Assembly

      Aug 2013 - Nov 2016
      Quality Manager

      - Shepherded company through rapid expansion that doubled revenues, tripled the workforce, added 2 manufacturing lines, and introduced robot technology; flawless ISO 9001/TS-16949 re-certification audit- Created line management system that allowed management to track and report assembly line performance, test results, quality data, along with numerous other metrics- Developed web-based production scheduling program that interfaced with ERP system to optimize inventory and process interactions of manufacturing line with high daily output and high variability in unique product orders Show less

    • Envoy Air

      Nov 2016 - Nov 2022
      Simulator Check Airman

      EMB-145 Sim Check Airman

    • American Airlines

      Nov 2022 - now
      First Officer
  • Licenses & Certifications

    • Commercial Pilot License

      FAA
      Dec 1999
    • Final Cut Pro X 10.2 Essential Training

      Lynda.com
      Jun 2016
      View certificate certificate
    • Air Transport Pilot

      Federal Aviation Administration
      Jan 2017
  • Honors & Awards

    • Awarded to Chris Kurek
      Distinguished Flying Cross -
    • Awarded to Chris Kurek
      Distinguished Graduate, US Air Force Academy -
  • Volunteer Experience

    • Volunteer

      Issued by Tarrant Area Food Bank
      Tarrant Area Food BankAssociated with Chris Kurek
    • Teacher - Economics

      Issued by Junior Achievement on Jan 2013
      Junior AchievementAssociated with Chris Kurek