D. Tom Fields

LtCol (Ret) D. Tom (Sally) Fields has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech, a MS in Flight Test Engineering from Air University, and served for over 24 years as a Marine.  He is an F/A-18 Air Combat Tactics Instructor, a graduate of Navy Fighter Weapons School, and a graduate of USAF Test Pilot School.  In 2010, Sally was assigned to VX-31 at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and led flight testing of legacy radar systems, EOIR systems, and air to air weapons for the F/A-18 A-D.  In 2013, Sally moved to MCAS Beaufort and joined the VMFA-122 Crusaders, he served as the Operations Officer and Executive Officer until 2015.  Sally returned to the test community in 2015, joining VX-23 as the F-35 Government Flight Test Director.   In 2017, Sally joined the AV-8B Program Office as the Propulsion Lead and was directed to report to PMA-265 in January 2018 to serve as the Deputy Program Manager for F/A-18 A-D.  Sally returned to NAWS China Lake in January 2019 to join the VX-31 Dust Devils as the Chief Test Pilot.  He had the privilege of serving as the Commanding Officer for VX-31 from July 2020 to March 2022, and retired from active-duty service in October 2022.   Sally joined Boeing as the Site Lead for China Lake in 2022, and subsequently joined Calspan as a Test Pilot in 2023.  He currently serves as the Director of Flight Operations for Calspan in Edwards, and a Learjet and F-16 Instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School.  Sally is an owner/operator of a PA-24-250 Comanche aircraft and a member of SETP, SFTE, and AIAA.  Sally’s aviation and flight test experience includes over 26 years of aviation, over 16 years of flight test, and over 3600 flight hours in 40+ different aircraft models.