What to Expect at Your Army Flight School Graduation and Family Day

Your Army flight school graduation day is almost here! This is a once in a lifetime experience for your aviator, and I want to make sure that it’s as low-stress as possible for you! Here’s an overview of what you can expect from family day and graduation at Fort Rucker (soon to be Fort Novosel). 

Family Day at Fort Novosel, Alabama (formerly Fort Rucker)

It’s time for family day! This is your chance to get up close and personal with your pilot’s aircraft! If your aviator flies Blackhawks or Apaches, family day is probably going to be crowded, while the Chinook and C-12 classes are a bit smaller. Though you’ll find out an exact time from your class leader, here are the typical times for when you’ll be able to access the flightline on family days depending on which aircraft your aviator is flying: 

Blackhawk | UH-60

11:00AM or 12:00 PM the day prior to graduation

Chinook | CH-47

Usually around 2:00pm the day prior to graduation

Apache | AH-64

Late morning to early afternoon the day prior to graduation, sometimes afternoon the day of graduation

Huron / C-12

No family day for C-12, but I can schedule a session for you! Reach out for details.

My typical routine for family days includes around 20ish minutes of portraits with the aviator and the family, then another 20ish minutes of candids / documentary style around the aircraft. If you have extended family coming along, we’ll start with those family photos first to capture everyone there, then focus most of our portrait time on the aviator, significant other, and kids. Our time of  exploring the aircraft is a great opportunity to talk to your aviator about their aircraft! Ask questions, take a look around, and just be yourself. I’m here to capture all the moments, both small and big, so you focus on living in this moment. 

Now let’s talk about weather — there isn’t usually too much worry about rain or other bad weather, but the “ramp” where all the aircraft park is thick asphalt and soaks up a LOT of heat during the warmer season. The warmer season lasts about 6-8 months of the year here in Alabama, so bring plenty of water!

Flight School Graduation Ceremony at the Army Aviation Museum

Let’s get your aviator graduated! The parking lot and the auditorium at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum fill up fast — the ceremony usually begins at ten o’clock in the morning, and most good seats are taken by 9:30am, while the parking lot is typically full by around 9:40am. There will be more parking in the grass across the road, but you’ll have a short walk to the museum. If you want to grab a decent parking spot and seat, plan to arrive 45-60 minutes early. You can typically start looking for a seat as early as 9am! 

You arrived nice and early, you found the best seat in the house, and now it’s time to pin your aviator! If your aviator is the distinguished honor graduate, they will come up by themselves prior to the rest of the class getting pinned. Honor graduates are pinned next in groups of four, and after that it’s groups of five in alphabetical order by rank.

Unless your pilot is the distinguished honor grad, there is limited space up front when it’s time to pin on your graduate’s wings. I recommend that no more than two to three people go up front for the pinning as there is usually only space for me to get the graduate and the person pinning on the aviator wings in my frame.

You brought your entire extended family with you to graduation? No worries! There will be plenty of time after the ceremony concludes to get everyone up front for more photos — we’ll even do more mock pinning photos to make sure we capture every little detail of those new wings. And hey, I’m here to worry about the photos. Leave your phone back in your seat while you’re up there! 

Family Portraits at the Army Aviation Museum

Phew! The ceremony is over. What a rush! Every graduate and their family will be running around taking photos, saying goodbyes, and shaking hands, so just take some time to hug your aviator, smile at your family and friends with you, and soak in the moment.

There are lots of different areas in the museum to wander around — I’ll take you to some of the photo worthy exhibits where we’ll gather everyone together and get those bigger family photos that we didn’t have room for during the ceremony! 

What to Wear to an Army Flight School Graduation

Finally, if you need some advice on what to wear, I wrote a style guide that includes everything you need to know about attire at military graduations. It’s on page 10 right here! 

Thanks so much for having me on board for this special celebration. It really is a once in a lifetime experience for your aviator, and I’m glad that I can be there to capture the moments for you. I’ll see you there! 

x, Grace

If you are interested in booking a flight school graduation or airfield session, you can learn more about them here or reach out to me here!