Class of 1988

Colonel Craig McPike is a Splendora High School 1988 graduate. After high school, he attended and graduated from Texas A&M University and was commissioned through ROTC in 1993. He entered active duty in 1994 and graduated from undergraduate pilot training at Laughlin AFB, Texas in 1995. He was then assigned to Kadena Air Base, Japan as a KC-135 pilot and has since been assigned to five different major commands at the unit, group, wing, MAJCOM, and Air Staff levels. His duties have included Chief of Standards and Evaluations; Chief of Group Training; Executive to the Director, Directorate of Plans and Programs, and Deputy Chief, Programs and Requirements and Operations Group Commander.  He is currently the commander of the 94th Airlift Wing, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, but prior to that, the Colonel was the Commander of the 916th Air Refueling Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina.  Colonel McPike has flown combat and combat support missions in support of operations Southern Watch, Allied Force, and Freedom’s Sentinel. He is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours in tactical, combat, educational, and test operations. 

When asked what does it mean to be a Wildcat, he replied, "To me, it’s a feeling of home, a sense of belonging, a place that makes me feel good again when I return. When I drive by the old school and look out over the fields of strife, upon which we battled Cleveland, Coldsprings, Tarkington, and Montgomery, I am taken back to those nights under the lights, and the sounds of cheering crowds, laughter, celebrations, tears of joy in victory, and tears of pain in defeat. I also remember the teachers and coaches that mentored us, and shaped us into adults, but most of all, I remember the friendships and the brotherhood that we made. Those bonds last to this day.  And even after the fields have grown over, the cheering has stopped, and the lights have turned out, the memories of being a Wildcat remain strong in my mind, and pride swells within my heart and makes me proud to have worn the red and white.  That’s what being a Wildcat means to me.“