Bombardier Pilot – Texas

It wasn’t easy for Ruben Uballe to make his way back from wartime injuries to the job he has today, working from the left seat of a Challenger 300 for a corporate air department.  JetPro Pilots helped give him a big boost along the way — and at just the right time.

Ruben grew up an Air Force brat, having been born at what is today the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, though much of his family lived in Texas. He went to high school in Lompoc, California, where in 1998, he joined the Army. He and his wife, Dawn, now live in the Dallas area, where Ruben has flown for a charter service since early 2024. He is tightly scheduled and quite satisfied with his arrangements.  But not that long ago, he was ready to turn his back on flying, after his distinguished Army career was followed by professional complications resulting from combat injuries sustained during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In an interview conducted earlier this month, Ruben looked back on his Army days with a mixture of gratitude and frustration. He retired from the military in 2018 as a Sergeant First Class with Special Operations Unit experience and more than one Purple Heart.  Having also been a private pilot for a decade, he looked forward to new aviation opportunities in civilian life, but ran into certification delays while awaiting required medical clearances.

“I used my GI Bill to get the ratings I needed, then was an instructor and worked with small charter services,” he recalled. “I also had a security clearance from my Army days and wanted to fly for border protection. But the government’s background check process was slow — it was taking up to three years — and I eventually figured nothing was going to happen. I was going to just stay on the ground and do what I was doing.”

Then came a phone call, out of the blue, from JetPro Pilots’ chief recruiter Seth Roberts. It got the next chapter in Ruben’s career off the ground.

“I was already Challenger-typed and that’s what he was looking for,” Ruben said of the initial contact. ”Seth had my resume and flight times and thought I’d be a fit for what he needed.”

The JetPro client agreed, and within three days, Ruben had signed on with his new employer through the JetPro Recruit full-time crew placement program.  He began as a first officer but quickly logged hours that qualified him for Pilot-In-Command duties.

“I’m very appreciative of them,” he said of JetPro Pilots and the role they played in reviving his airborne aspirations. “When I hear of contract pilots who need steadier situations, I point them to JetPro.  I give them Seth’s number to see what he might have for them, because it sure worked for me.”