Orlando Sanchez, Jr.
Experiencing different cultures and people as he’s moved around the world for the military has led to eye-opening opportunities, Carson City native Orlando Sanchez, Jr., said, but it was home that made it possible.
Sanchez, or OJ as he’s known to friends and family, found his niche becoming a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force, a mission commander who was first to test the F-22 Raptor and eventually as a vice president of Aero Sustainment Innovation and Operations at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth, Texas.
“We are known as the largest defense company to ensure our partners are ahead in security, and we call it ‘Ahead of Ready,’ to make sure we have freedoms and make sure our partners and allies are ready to deter conflict to win,” he said. “(Lockheed) was a great match and had the values I was raised with.”
Sanchez attributes his successful career trajectory to his small-town roots in Carson City, where he graduated from Carson High School in 1989. He earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from the U.S. Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1993 and trained as a pilot in Okinawa, Japan. Sanchez married and the couple moved 15 times around the world through various assignments. They now have five children.
“I was selected in the early days of new airplane development, the F-22 Raptor and that was the first time the Air Force moved beyond the technology they had in 15 or 20 years into modern aircraft,” he said. “I was fortunate to be in the initial group of pilots.”
He eventually retired as a colonel.
But Sanchez continued working in national security when he joined Lockheed Martin in 2014 and oversaw its F-22 program. Joining with the company’s advanced development mission and partners has been an effort to champion excellence, he said. He also has been in charge of its F-35 program.
“Something that’s super exciting is Skunk Works, and it’s one of these teams that has a story and history of delivering on urgent needs for the nation,” he said. “In the Air Force, I realized I appreciated that many had come before me that allowed to live the way we do in a free and open society. The lives we live and that understanding as I grew in the Air Force is to continue to ensure that as a nation.”
Testing advanced aircraft with newer radar technologies and diagnostics was a joy, Sanchez said. Modifications helped to reduce soldiers and airmen for missions, and teams working on such work helped to push boundaries in national security, he said.
“The people who put their time and genius in are all very motivated, and it’s awesome to be a part of it as a pilot and innovator and bring the future,” he said. “Really, it’s a privilege.”
Sanchez said it was his start at Carson High School and in the community that launched his journey. He said for young people either who are forming their next steps, there is no “right path.”
“The benefit of a town like Carson City is the size is not so large that you’re overwhelmed and not too small there’s no opportunity you can’t find,” he said. “I had a normal life in Carson City, from playing sports to working to taking advantage of the schooling, and people invested in me.
“That’s what I would tell them first: You can do more than you see in the moment. I had no background in flying, to be an Air Force officer. And they can do that, too. There are plenty of opportunities to chart a path.”