USAF Pilot Capt. Steven Snyder's Own Path
by U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Kevin Jones
July 5, 2026

He knew he was destined to serve in the United States military and always had a certain service academy in mind.

Raised in Walkersville, Maryland, U.S. Air Force Capt. Steven Snyder, 435th Fighter Training Squadron executive officer and instructor pilot, was immersed in the traditions of the U.S. Naval Academy long before he charted his own path in the Air Force.

“I grew up around Navy sports my whole life, so that’s where I was trying to end up,” he said.

Snyder’s father, Mark, a graduate of the Naval Academy, spent his time there as a student-athlete playing soccer prior to his service. Snyder was an athlete himself, playing lacrosse with the goal of doing so for a service academy.

“Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out for the lacrosse and service academy dreams at the Naval Academy,” Snyder said. “The Air Force and Army were still options for me, though, and I ended up going with the Air Force.”

Much like becoming a student-athlete at a service academy, joining the Air Force allowed Snyder to reach for another dream that he’d always wanted for himself ... earning his wings.

“My dad was a pilot in the Navy, so I kind of knew those were the footsteps I wanted to follow,” he said.

His ambitions became reality, receiving a pilot billet during his closing years at the Air Force Academy. He entered into the powered flight program there which gave him a basic foundational understanding of what his career would entail.

“It was a small little airplane just to get your feet wet,” Snyder said of the T-53A Kadet II he piloted.

Snyder reminisced on his graduation from the academy.

“My whole family was there, my girlfriend at the time who is now my wife, her mom; it was a very bittersweet moment with everyone hugging each other and being super proud of finally being done.”

From there, the brand-new second lieutenant started his journey at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, where he would work under casual status for a few months before his introduction to flight training in Pueblo, Colorado.

“It was the same kind of deal as in the academy,” he said. “It let me get my feet wet and get into the flying environment.”

He returned to Laughlin AFB after the two-month preliminary course where he started training in January 2018, beginning with the T-6A Texan II before advancing to the T-38C Talon. After completing pilot training and becoming an operational pilot for the Air Force, Snyder remained at Laughlin AFB as a first assignment instructor pilot from 2019 to 2022.

He was able to leave Texas for his next assignment, joining the 20th Bomb Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana to fly the B-52 Stratofortress, where he and his wife grew their family to four in the two-and-a-half years he was stationed there before returning to Texas.

“It’s a pretty good work-life balance here,” he said. “I can fly twice a day, get my work done, and still make it home without feeling like I got zero time with the family.”

Since returning to Texas less than a year ago, Snyder enjoys the position he’s currently in at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

“I think he’ll leave a legacy of someone who cares about their family, cared about their job and had their priorities straight,” said Maj. Brendan Biscan, 435th FTS instructor pilot and assistant director of operations.

In the 435th FTS, every pilot has a job on the ground. When he’s not in the air, Snyder has administrative duties as an executive officer.

Sometimes, though, he goes above and beyond his expected duties, as Biscan recalls... “We had some guests come out and work on our aircrew flight equipment for about a month, and before they left to go back to their assigned unit, someone wanted to get them some incentive flights as a ‘thank you.’ The wing commander has to approve those flights, and he (Snyder) went out of his way to make that happen for them on the paperwork side on short notice. It wasn’t really a requirement of our office to get that done faster; he just did that because it was a good thing to do to help those folks out and say thank you.”

Much like his day-to-day job, Snyder’s future is up in the air. After nine years on active duty, he has choices to make ... with one thing he’s certain of ... is that he’ll follow in his father’s footsteps once more in becoming an airline pilot after he concludes his service to this country.

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