Johnny Montgomery Jr. is a 31-year veteran of the United States Air Force. Johnny first became  interested in flying at a very young age as a military dependent. The father of Johnny Montgomery was  an Air Force member and provided exposure to flying during multiple duty assignments around the  world. It was at the air demonstrations of different aircraft where Johnny truly became interested in  aviation. After reaching high school, Johnny participated in JROTC and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.

     Upon completing basic military training and aircraft maintenance technical school Johnny became a B-52  G/H flying crew chief. During this time, Johnny served in support of Desert Shield/ Desert Storm. During  the time of being, a flying crew chief Johnny had an opportunity to witness aviation first hand and his  passion for flying continued to grow. After leaving active duty, Johnny then joined the U.S. Air Force  Reserve. As a Reserve member, Johnny served as a C-130H crew chief for many years until cross training  into the operations squadron as a C-130H Loadmaster. During this time, Johnny served during Operation  Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Currently, Johnny is an enlisted aviator as a Flight  Evaluator/Instructor Loadmaster on C-130 Hercules aircraft.

     Johnny started with the Redtail Foundation February of 2020. Since that time, the Scholarship program  has trained Johnny to obtain a commercial pilot certificate. Johnny is now training to become a Redatail  Scholarship flight instructor. Johnny plans to continue training for CFI, CFII, to help mentor up and  coming young African-American aviators. It is Johnny’s desire to be a well-rounded and diverse  instructor within the Redtail Scholarship Foundation by bringing years of experience from the military.

     Motivational Quote: “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little  matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” Colin Powell