By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published March 14, 2025
HARRISON TOWNSHIP — On the morning of March 6, six F-22 Raptor jets of the 1st Fighter Wing took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia on a mission nearly 90 years in the making.
Their target: Selfridge Air National Guard Base, an airfield located just off the shores of Lake St. Clair. Their goal: victory at all costs.
So began the 2025 edition of the Mitchell Trophy Air Race, a long-dormant test of speed and skill that traces its very beginnings to the Selfridge and the origins of United States air power.
“The race is an honor to our historical 1st Pursuit Group home — Selfridge Air National Guard Base — and the Mitchell Trophy Air Race actually began at Selfridge in 1922,” Tech. Sgt. Matthew Coleman-Foster of the 1st Fighter Wing said.
Named after the brother of military aviation advocate Billy Mitchell, the first Mitchell Trophy air races served as tests of speed and skill for the 1st Pursuit Group. According to a statement from Selfridge’s 127th Wing of the Air National Guard, six pilots commanded open-cockpit biplanes in a five-lap race over a 20-mile-long course marked by pylons. Lt. Donald Stace was the first pilot to complete the 100-mile challenge, claiming the first Mitchell Trophy on Oct. 14, 1922. Mitchell Trophy races ran until 1936.
Nearly 90 years since the race’s last running, much has changed with American air power and the participating units. The United States Air Force is now its own branch of the military. The 1st Pursuit Group that formed the initial base of competitors has become the 1st Fighter Wing and moved to Virginia. It upgraded from biplanes to the state-of-the-art F-22. With a glass cockpit, supersonic capabilities, radar-absorbing surfaces, beyond-visual-range combat capabilities and supermaneuvrability, the F-22 is a far cry from the wood and canvas biplanes that made up Selfridge’s early fleets.
The rules of the air race have changed as well. Instead of laps around pylons that dazzle spectators, the race now tests pilots’ abilities to take off, land, navigate in the air and ready their aircraft with minimal support. The roster of competitors has remained the same with six planes in teams of two representing the 1st Fighter Wing’s three component squadrons — the 27th, 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons — with one pilot tasked with carrying out the challenges and the second serving as support.
“Our wing’s intent with this is that 1st Fighter Wing airmen will face adversities that are resourced and determined to disrupt our techniques, our tactics and procedures at all phases of combat,” Coleman-Foster said. “Our airmen must be able to execute effective combat operations in dynamic environments that lack information and time; that is an overarching item that we try to stress ourselves on when it comes to training and preparing for doing what we need to do.”
The training nature of the modern air race means this edition was no spectator affair. While pilots from Langley often dazzle crowds with the F-22 Demonstration Team, the air race was strictly business with only a limited heads-up given to the public via social media.
Upon receiving their orders at Langley, the teams had to inspect, arm, fuel and launch their jets for the sprint to Selfridge. Once the pilots navigated their way to Selfridge without outside support, the main pilot was tasked with running two miles across the base in freezing temperatures and 30 mph winds to the Selfridge Military Air Museum to add their name to the guest register while the second stayed behind to inspect and refuel the jets.
Capt. “Marbro” of the 27th Fighter Squadron, identified by his callsign, was the first to mark their name in the register, followed by Lt. Col. “Devil,” commander of the 94th Fighter Squadron. “Devil’s” time at the museum was prolonged by shaking hands with about 20 bystanders before making his way back to the flight line. This, however, would prove no more than a speedbump for “Devil” and teammate, Capt. “Rizz,” as the team took off from Selfridge and became the first duo to make its way back to Langley, claiming the Mitchell Trophy for the 94th Fighter Squadron.
The air race was not the first time F-22s have been to Selfridge — the demonstration team served as the headlining act for the base’s 2022 air show and open house — and 2025 is a pivotal time for Selfridge to play host to a contest for advanced fighter aircraft. While the 127th Wing’s refueling mission seems secure after the arrival of new KC-46A Pegasus tanker planes, the A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter mission has yet to find a suitable replacement once the planes are no longer part of the Air Force’s arsenal. Attempts to bring an F-35 Lightning II mission to the base have borne no fruit with Selfridge being passed up to host a foreign-customer training academy in 2023, and base supporters have since turned to finding other ways of attracting a replacement fighter mission to the base. Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have been campaigning for a F-15EX Eagle II program to be stationed at Selfridge, and the state has allocated $13 million to expand the base’s runway to the north in hopes of attracting a fighter mission.
“The opportunity to showcase Selfridge’s capabilities during the Mitchell Trophy Air Race is a testament to the enduring fighter mission that’s been here for more than a century,” Brig. Gen. Matthew Brancato, commander of the 127th Wing and Selfridge Air National Guard Base, said via press release. “As the largest Air National Guard installation in the United States, Selfridge is equipped to handle the most advanced aircraft and weapons systems in the military fleet.”
Plans for future runnings of the Mitchell Trophy Air Race remain up in the air at press time.