Psychology suggests F-22 Raptor pilots show a specific “Alpha” personality pattern that sets them apart from F-35 Lightning II pilots. F-22 pilots exhibit the classic “Alpha” personality — aggressive and highly competitive — fitting the classic “right stuff” lore. F-22 pilots are trained for air-to-air combat, extreme speed, and dogfighting. F-35 Lightning II pilots are considered “tactical managers of the aerial battlefield.” F-35 pilots are often described as team-oriented, highly analytical, and comfortable with complex information systems.
What Makes F-22 Pilots Different?
Capt. Kristin “Beo” Wolfe, F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team pilot and commander, banks hard left making vapor trails over and behind the wings during a practice demonstration at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Mar. 23, 2021. The demonstration team is part of Air Combat Command and is assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB. Capt. Wolfe grew up a military child as the daughter of retired Col. Jon Wolfe and has flown the T-6 Texan II, T-38 Talon, F-22 Raptor and now the F-35A Lightning II. (U.S. Air Force photo by Alex R. Lloyd)
An F-22 Raptor assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing F-22 Demo Team, performs an aerial routine during the Wings Over Wayne Air Show at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, May 20, 2023. Wings Over Wayne provides an opportunity for North Carolina residents and visitors from around the world to see how SJAFB builds to the future of airpower and displays a history of aircraft innovation and capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)
Maj. Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, F-22 Raptor Demo Team commander and pilot, maneuvers into a climb after a tactical-pitch at the Cold Lake Air Show July 17, 2022, at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. The F-22 Raptor’s two Pratt and Whitney F119 Turbofan engines bring a combined 70,000 pounds of thrust in combination with two-dimensional thrust vectoring to enable maximum maneuverability for the multi-role air-to-air stealth fighter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Don Hudson)
Psychologists and military aviation analysts have found differences between fighter pilot profiles, suggesting that the specialized roles of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II attract or cultivate different, though overlapping, cognitive and personality skill sets.
The Air Force assigns pilots to different aircraft types after basic flight training, following testing to determine whether significant psychological differences exist between pilots flying different aircraft types and whether these differences can predict who will become a fighter pilot, a bomber pilot, or an airlift/tanker pilot.
The National Institutes of Health published their findings on 2,105 pilots who were analyzed using the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB) and the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R). The testing analyzed which aircraft was best suited to each pilot’s scores.
Some Personality Characteristics of All Fighter Pilots
In addition to cognitive ability, a variety of personality characteristics have been identified as crucial for pilot training and aviator job success, for example, extraversion, conscientiousness, self-confidence, and neuroticism.
Cabo Gunderson wrote on Instagram, “Flying an F-22 meant sitting in a machine built to push humans to their mental and physical limits.
“In the middle of a fight, you’ve got alarms going off, radio calls stacking up, and your body being crushed under Gs. Fear shows up whether you want it to or not.
“What separates the pilots who succeed isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the discipline to act with clarity despite it.
Maj. Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, F-22 Raptor Demo Team commander and pilot, maneuvers into a climb after a tactical-pitch at the Cold Lake Air Show July 17, 2022, at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. The F-22 Raptor’s two Pratt and Whitney F119 Turbofan engines bring a combined 70,000 pounds of thrust in combination with two-dimensional thrust vectoring to enable maximum maneuverability for the multi-role air-to-air stealth fighter. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Don Hudson)
Eight U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, sit on the flightline, July 9, 2018, at Yokota Air Base, Japan. Eight F-22s evacuated from Kadena Air Base, Japan due to Typhoon Maria. The F-22 are deployed under U.S. PACOM’s theater security package (TSP) program, which has been in operation since 2004. (U.S. Air Force photo by Yasuo Osakabe)
An F-22 Raptor assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing F-22 Demo Team, performs an aerial routine during the Wings Over Wayne Air Show at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, May 20, 2023. Wings Over Wayne provides an opportunity for North Carolina residents and visitors from around the world to see how SJAFB builds to the future of airpower and displays a history of aircraft innovation and capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)
F-22 Pilot Personality
The F-22 pilot and the aircraft itself are, as SimpleFlying.com writes, “embodying pilot authority. It’s about mastery of flight dynamics, precision in maneuvering, and conscious tactical decision-making. It rewards pilots who have honed their instinctive scanning and control skills over years of training.”
F-22 pilots exhibit the classic “Alpha” personality: aggressive and highly competitive, fitting the classic “right stuff” lore. Raptor pilots are trained for air-to-air combat, extreme speed, and dogfighting.
This personality trait refers to a unique combination of extreme courage, coolness under pressure, intense competitiveness, and a “cowboy” spirit of adventure, originally identified in military test pilots and early astronauts.
Coined by Tom Wolfe in 1979, it defines the qualities required to face mortal danger, such as mastering speed and navigating risks.
F-22 pilots are considered elite air-superiority specialists who must make split-second, high-G tactical decisions, much like Chuck Yeager.
The F-22 Raptor is the latest version of the classic air-to-air gunfighter, equipped with cutting-edge modern weapons.
F-35 Pilot Personality
The Lightning II pilots are considered “tactical managers of the aerial battlefield.”
The F-35 is designed for multirole versatility (air-to-ground, air-to-air), sensor fusion, and stealthy information management.
Personality traits among F-35 pilots are often described as team-oriented, highly analytical, and comfortable with complex information systems.
The pilots are often found to be “knowledgeable” or “technical,” sometimes compared to managing a complex video game or acting as a quarterback managing a complex, collaborative battle space.
While F-22 pilots are often “fighters,” F-35 pilots act more as tactical managers, leveraging the aircraft’s unparalleled situational awareness.
The article in SimpleFlying.com points out that the cockpit in the F-35 “represents the next wave: decision support and integrated awareness. It reduces workload through sensor fusion and an advanced, futuristic helmet system, allowing pilots to focus on what they need to do rather than on where to find the data.
“This shift reflects the increasing complexity of modern combat environments and the need to act quickly on fused sensor intelligence.”
Brain Usage Difference Between F-22 and F-35 Pilots
Some psychological assessments suggest a shift from left-brain (analytical) to right-brain (intuitive) thinking among top-tier fighter pilots, but F-35 pilots are arguably more heavily reliant on the “left-brain” ability to analyze massive amounts of data from sensors.
However, some neuroscientific studies suggest that F-35 pilots generally have brain structures and functionality that lean toward both hemispheres working together in a highly specialized way, rather than being purely “left-brained” or “right-brained”.
While F-22 Raptor pilots exhibit more right-brain (intuitive) attributes, the F-22’s advanced “glass cockpit” requires pilots to manage immense amounts of data simultaneously, demanding highly efficient integration between the two hemispheres rather than a single-sided dominance.
Controlled Aggression Or Analytical Information Driven?
While both pilots need to be aggressive to accomplish the mission, F-22 pilots are tailored to the raw, instantaneous aggression of dogfighting. In contrast, F-35 pilots tend to be more focused on intelligent, information-driven combat.
Regardless, both pilots of the Raptor and the Lightning II are highly intelligent, physically fit, and share a high conscientiousness, lower agreeableness (meaning they are challenging and critical), and extreme dedication.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
