Randal Hudon
Randal Hudon
Captain, USAF
On a Sunday evening in 1969, Randy Hudon, barely 12 years old, sat in front of a black-and-white television in Milton, Florida, and watched the historic events of July 20. Randy’s future was spread out before him after that night. Men walking on the moon was an impossible dream, but Randy was known for believing in the impossible. It didn’t take long for Randy to seek counsel from his airplane-owning neighbor to begin learning what it would take to “slip the surly bonds of Earth.”
When Randy hit his high school growth spurt, he sadly learned that a towering 6-foot-five man wouldn’t achieve the dream of lunar landing but could still take flight in the next best thing. He pursued his private pilot’s license before leaving home and flew through the “halls of air” around Whiting Field in his hometown of Milton, Florida.
Randy received a four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship to Auburn University where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in aviation management. He graduated with honors and went to Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. His wife, Cindy, joined him there to begin their early years of marriage while he graduated eighth in his class and became Fighter, Attack, and Reconnaissance qualified.
Randy was asked to take his mastered skills and teach the next round of incoming cadets, becoming both an Instructor Pilot in the 8th Flight Training Squadron — instructing in the T-37 — as well as an Academic Instructor. He attended Squadron Officer School in 1983 and repeatedly returned to what he would always consider his home of Auburn University to speak with Air Force ROTC students about Air Force careers and Pilot Training.
Randy earned his MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1985 around the time he took his next assignment at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He spent long days and weeks flying WC-130s with the Hurricane Hunters Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.
Randy quickly became the Executive Officer and later the Chief Pilot of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. During his incumbency, the Squadron was granted the Air Force Outstanding Unit award, flew drug interdiction in the Gulf of Mexico, provided weather data and hurricane designation to Europe and back, and filmed the 1986 Challenger shuttle launch from the airborne camera of his C-130 airplane. When the base took a direct hit from Hurricane Elena in 1985, Randy was part of the crew who worked on base clean up and reestablishment.
His final Air Force assignment was at North Carolina State University where he served as the Commandant of Cadets for a 300-member Cadet wing and as Assistant Professor of Aerospace.
He left the Air Force in 1989 and joined BellSouth Corporation as a corporate pilot. He continued pursuing his love of leadership and management, eventually earning his role as President of BellSouth Corporate Aviation and Travel. He earned an Executive Management Certificate from University of Virginia’s Darden Business School and managed all aspects of BellSouth’s industry-leading corporate aviation team, commercial travel business, and corporate meeting organization. He prided himself in being the best at what he did, training other executive flight directors from across the U.S. on best practices.
He also served as a consultant for the Georgia governor, helping pass Senate Bill 85 that created the Georgia Aviation Authority – allowing the state to achieve peak efficiency in its Aviation use, modernize its fleet, and save taxpayer money.
Randy retired from BellSouth as a certified aviation manager during the AT&T merger in 2007 and created his own company, Aviation Leadership Group – providing leadership, strategic planning, and management consulting across the business aviation industry.
He chaired the Auburn University Aviation Management Advisory Council for several years, held seats on the Aviation Directors Roundtable, and served on the National Business Aviation Association Board of Directors and the Flight Safety Foundation Corporate Advisory Committee. He also served on a number of governmental and corporate aviation Boards of Directors around the country.
Beyond aviation positions, he took on leadership and advisory roles, bringing best practices to his 10,000-member church as Director of Finance, member of the Administrative Council, and Board of Directors at the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy and Evergreen Conference Center. As he worked in the corporate aviation world, he returned to the Plains and advocated for the Aviation Management department at Auburn University, foreseeing the growing need for pilots in the years to come.
In 2014, Capt. Hudon was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer. For nearly 7 years, he maintained a positive and encouraging attitude. To his last days, he maintained that anyone could achieve their own impossible with a little coaching, direction, passion, and a whole lot of humor.
Randy and Cindy moved back to Auburn in 2018, fulfilling his dream of returning to the Plains. Randy passed away on October 29, 2020, ultimately losing his battle with cancer.
In 2021, Capt. Hudon was posthumously installed on the Wall of Honor at the National Air and Space Museum, in memoriam and recognition of his lifelong commitment to and passion for aviation. His life was a testament to his faith, his family, and his dedication to helping others grow and succeed.