Dr. Brian A. Tom is Vice President for Operations for Practical Aeronautics.  He is a 1991 graduate of the University of California at San Diego, earned Master’s degrees from The George Washington University and the Air Force Institute of Technology, a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School. 

A retired Air Force Colonel, Brian has flown more than 2600 hours as a Navigator (Combat Systems Officer) in over 30 aircraft types, serving primarily as a Weapons System Officer as well as Instructor, Evaluator, and Test Navigator on bombers. He has taught at the Air Force Academy, served as the Associate Dean of the Graduate School at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and most recently was the Chief of Safety for the Air Force Test Center. He currently works in flight test in Southern California and regularly flies his own aircraft, a Piper PA-28 Cherokee.