NEWARK, N.J. — An Air Force cadet has logged over 500 hours in his flight suit in the last six months, shattering a record held since 1986.

Cadet Col. Mike Finnes, 22, of the 490th Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) Detachment at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, began wearing the suit the moment he found out about his selection into pilot training. He wore it almost continuously during waking hours until he was medically disqualified and reclassified into Personnel.

“From the time when AFROTC students find out they are selected to fly, and before they actually commission as officers and go to Pilot Training, most cadets are able to condescendingly log around 100-150 hours of valuable time in the suit; making Finnes’ 518 a landslide accomplishment,” says Colonel Sherry Stearns-Boles, Commander of Headquarters AFROTC.