Air Force Major, LeRoy "Lee" J. Barnhill Jr., was born and raised in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Over the course of his life, the science and art of flight have always held a special fascination for him. Lee's love of aviation took root at a young age as evidenced by his fearlessness in visiting his family doctor as a 6-year-old. His family doctor was a pilot and with every visit would make certain that Lee went home with at least two flying magazines of his choosing that Lee would read and re-read until his next visit to the doctor. Lee spent a large part of his weekends during middle school assembling, painting, and detailing the latest airplane model that he could find. During high school his interest turned toward aerodynamic theory. Needed a way to pay for college he enlisted in the United States Air Force. Being around fighter jets and cargo planes only fueled his love of flying. Luckily, a short stint as a radio operator found him occupying a crew seat on the flight deck of a C-130 Hercules cargo plane while deployed in support of relief missions between Kenya and Somalia. Many years later, Lee found himself with the resources to bring finally his dream of learning to fly to fruition. In 2003, his started his flight training but an assignment to Korea stalled his flight training after only 8 hours. He returned again to training in the summer of 2008, and after nearly 63 hours, once again found his training interrupted by a deployment to Iraq. Never losing sight of his goal, he received his license as a private pilot within six months of his return. Within his first year as a certificated pilot, Lee began volunteering his time with programs geared toward inspiring a love of aviation in youth. Among these was his work as a Civil Air Patrol Assistant Aerospace Educator, and serving as a Coach/Mentor with the East Coast Chapter of Tuskegee Airman Inc.'s Youth in Aviation Program. Under the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, this program seeks to help minority youth realize and pursue opportunities for careers in the Aerospace/Aviation fields. After 24 years of service to his country, Major Barnhill will retire from the US Air Force in July 2011. He looks forward to helping others realize their dream to fly as well as continuing to improve his understanding of the art and science of flight.