Since leaving Whitefish, Capt. Ben Orsua has been flying high, recently being selected for one of two open slots to pilot the formidable F-22 Raptor for the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Nationwide, there are only 35 Reserve spots, and Orsua and Capt. Tim Peterson — both currently F-16 pilots with the Montana Air National Guard in Great Falls — were picked for two open positions.

Orsua leaves for Holloman Air Force Base in Alamagordo, N.M., in January, and Peterson will follow next September.

“There are a lot of Raptor pilots but there are very few Reserve Raptor pilots,” said Orsua, the son of Bob Orsua, who owns Mo Fisch Fishing Charters in the Flathead Valley. “It’s exciting to have two guys from Montana get picked up.”

But more significant  for Orsua is the fact that he and Peterson have had the rare opportunity to fly all three Air Force combat jets: the third-generation F-15, the fourth-generation F-16 and the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor.

“Maybe the uniqueness of it is that I’ll be fortunate enough to fly all three of the main fighters,” said Orsua, who attended Whitefish schools from the fifth through the ninth grades.

He graduated from Lake City High School in Coeur D’Alene and went on to attend the University of North Dakota, graduating with a degree in aeronautical science in 2002.

Orsua, 29, went directly into crew chief positions, followed by pilot training schools in Oklahoma, Georgia and Arizona. He joined the Air National Guard squadron in Great Falls in 2006, initially flying F-16s.

In spring 2008, he did a 70-day tour in Iraq, flying 100 hours of combat sorties. After returning, the Great Falls squadron converted to F-15s, which Orsua has been flying ever since.

Orsua recalls wanting to be a pilot at a young age. “I was always just wanting to fly,” he said.

And there’s a particular reason he wants to fly the F-22 Raptor.

“One of my big interests in getting in with the F-22 is that it’s the type of aircraft that gets deployed,” he said. “There’s only a limited amount of them ... It’s kind of a select group, where you would be at the tip of the spear if there was a world event. It would that squadron that would be getting the phone call.”

But Orsua has yet to fly one, and he admits he doesn’t know a lot right now about the differences from the other aircraft he’s flown.

“Apparently, the jump into a fifth-generation fighter is incredible, it’s noticeable,” he said. “Everything — it just does it better, higher, faster.”

Orsua will return to Tyndal Air Force Base in Florida for training in the F-22 and then will be assigned to the Air Force base in New Mexico. 

There is a “bittersweet” element to his new assignment, however. Orsua said he usually joins his dad for fishing on Flathead Lake once a year, and his dad often comes out to the Great Falls area for hunting.

“I’ll be leaving the state so there will be less family stuff,” Orsua said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com