Captain Bob Hesselbein, National Security Committee Chairman
Air Line Pilots Association, International

Captain Bob Hesselbein is the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) National Security Committee Chairman. As the National Security Committee (NSC) Chairman, Captain Hesselbein provides oversight of all committee activities, participates in government and industry meetings, testifies before Congress, and makes presentations to the public and media, world-wide, to represent the security interests of 52,500 airline pilots in North America, their crewmembers, passengers and cargo.

Captain Hesselbein has an extensive background in aviation security. He has performed airborne counter-drug surveillance duties in support of diverse law enforcement agencies, researched and created the standard airline crewmember procedures guide for countering inflight Chemical/Biological/Nuclear/Radiological threats, and provides a pilot-based security perspective to government entities and the aerospace industry through his liaison, writing and public speaking venues.

Currently piloting the A-320 Airbus, Captain Hesselbein has flown throughout the world for Northwest Airlines since 1986. Highly decorated, and a graduate of the prestigious United States Air Force Fighter Weapons School, he started his flying career as a U.S. Army helicopter gunship pilot flying the AH-1G attack helicopter during combat operations in Southeast Asia. He then transitioned to the United States Air Force, and later the Wisconsin Air National Guard, flying A-10 and F-16 fighters until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 2000.