Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds’ follows the eponymous aerial demonstration team, which performs death-defying formations, all thanks to the elite US Air Force pilots who give their blood and sweat to the job. While the documentary focuses on the collective work of 135 people, right from the pilots to the maintenance guys, a major part of the story is focused on the Thunderbirds Commander Justin “Astro” Elliott. With the weight of the team’s responsibility on his shoulders, he also has to think about the impact his career choices have on his family. His story adds emotional weight to this adrenaline-fuelled story.
Justin Elliott’s Stellar Career Led Him to Become the Leader of the Thunderbirds
Before he was chosen to lead the Thunderbirds, Justin “Astro” Elliott had established himself as one of the most accomplished pilots at the time in the US Air Force. He had graduated from Yale, where he pursued engineering and received two follow-on master’s degrees. However, his heart had been set on flying jets for the Air Force from an early age. Following his enlistment, he graduated from Fighter Weapons School and the US Air Force Test Pilot School. While these qualifications played a huge role in him getting selected to lead the Thunderbirds, his primary intention was to use them as a stepping stone to enter NASA’s astronaut program, a dream he had harboured since he was three years old. However, that has nothing to do with “Astro” being his callsign.
Elliott revealed that when he first flew an F-15E at nighttime, he wore night vision goggles, which made the stars, planets, and airplanes look similar in appearance. Due to this, he confused a star for his flight lead and chased after it for a while before he realised his mistake. It was due to this that “Astro” became his callsign. What makes his story even more impressive is that he eventually did apply to the astronaut program, and after several rigorous rounds, he made it quite close to being selected. The process was still ongoing when he was offered to join the Thunderbirds. It was a difficult choice, but in the end, Elliott decided to choose the Thunderbirds because he wanted to give back to the Air Force for all they’d done for him.
Justin Elliott is Still Serving in the US Air Force
Colonel Justin Elliot is currently working at the Chief of Current Operations at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) & US Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is married to Victoria Elliott, with whom he has two sons, Declan and Revan. Following his two-year service as the Commander/Leader of the United States Air Force Air Demostration Squadron (USAFADS) Thunderbirds, he spent seven months in Rome, from December 2023 to July 2024, at the NATO Defense College. Since 2024, he has been with NORAD, where, apart from his usual duties, he also keeps up with the traditions like the NORAD Tracks Santa event. He has also appeared in several podcasts to talk about his awe-inspiring career in the Air Force and his work with the Thunderbirds, among other things.
Apart from his service in the US Air Force, Elliott is also a licensed real estate agent in Florida. When he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, he and his family moved to Destin, Florida, where they fell in love with its environs and pristine beaches. Now, they have three properties that they offer for rent. These properties include Destin Light of Mine (a 4-story, six-bed, four-bathroom building with 500 yards of beach), Destin Angle of Repose (a six-bed, six-bathroom building), and Destin Quartz and Cabernet (a 3450 sq ft, 4-story property of six beds and four bathrooms). They are managed by Victoria and have received excellent reviews from their customers. For their hospitality, the couple has also received the badge of Airbnb Superhost and VRBO Premier Host since 2016.
Additionally, Elliott also has a passion for painting. He got into oil painting while he was deployed in Afghanistan. He has expanded the landscapes of his art over the course of his years in service, and some of his artworks can also be seen on the walls of the Elliotts’ Destin properties. While the Netflix documentary has brought him and the Thunderbirds into the limelight, he and his family prefer to live a life of privacy. Still, he is happy having been a part of the documentary as it opens the hard work put in by the Thunderbirds to the public. He hopes that, apart from inspiring the young generation to join the Air Force, it also helps people not interested in the military find the motivation to keep pursuing their dreams, no matter how difficult they might seem.
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