Fountain Hills resident and Air Force Officer David Taylor, 23, graduated in May of 2022 from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., at the top of his class, earning a highly sought-after assignment as a U.S. Air Force pilot.

At Embry Riddle, Taylor served in the Air Force ROTC while obtaining his degree in unmanned aircraft systems. He achieved the outstanding graduate award as the top Air Force student of his graduating class, earned an AFROTC scholarship and graduated as a member of the Arnold Air Society program.

According to Taylor, achieving an Air Force pilot slot came as a surprise, as only two Air Force slots were awarded the previous year.

“Every year they give out only so many pilot slots to applicants,” Taylor said. “This year was especially difficult because of COVID, which created a backlog, so only a handful of applicants got a slot.”

This year, Taylor was one of six other graduating students who received a pilot’s slot for the U.S. Air Force from Embry Riddle in Prescott.

Following his graduation, Taylor was assigned to Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla., where he will report in a matter of weeks.

“It was pretty amazing,” Taylor said, describing the moment he found out about his Air Force assignment. “I knew where I ranked compared to my peers, but I just didn’t know how many slots were going to be given out. I got a call from the colonel at the school and he said he had good news, and he let me know that I got a pilot spot.

“I was over the moon, excited and super grateful for the opportunity.”

Taylor said he is eager to begin his dream career as an Air Force pilot.

Taylor will be stationed in Oklahoma for at least one year to complete his preliminary training before being assigned a base and an aircraft. The Air Force base assignment will be determined by where Taylor is needed and what he submits on his “dream sheet,” a list of preferences of where he would like to be stationed.

“I am so beyond proud of David, as just five years ago he was in a tornado of confusion (like most all of us as teenagers) of what he was going to do with his young life, but boy did he dial it in and fast after our Embry Riddle Aeronautical University visitation,” Thomas Taylor said, David’s father. “While his family is so immensely proud of all that he’s accomplished thus far I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we're proudest of the Godly servant-leader man he has become. We're so excited to see how God uses him in his Air Force career and beyond sewing into the lives of everyone he comes into contact with.”

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University is regarded as one of the top flight schools in the nation. According to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 college listing, Embry Riddle’s Prescott campus is ranked the #1 Regional College in the West, #1 Most Innovative Regional School in the West and #1 Regional School in the West for veterans.

Taylor says that becoming an Air Force pilot had always been a lofty ambition of his and always had apprehensions about achieving his goal.

“I put my best foot forward, I made sure my resume was as strong as it could be, kept my G.P.A up, my fitness and all of that…I didn’t see any backup options, I just knew that I wanted to become an Airforce pilot.”