BS Marketing '95
James “Chef” Barlow grew up in Tampa, Florida and attended Florida State University where he graduated from the College of Business in 1995 with a BS degree in Marketing. While at FSU, James was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and an Air Force ROTC cadet. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force.
He began his active duty Air Force career in acquisitions as a Contracting Officer at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska while eagerly awaiting selection for flight school. In his off hours, he built flight time as a bush pilot, ferrying hunters and fly fishermen into the rugged Alaskan interior. He attended flight school in 1998 and had the honor of spending his career flying the most feared ground attack fighter in the inventory, the A-10 Warthog. It was here flying the “Hawg” that he got the callsign “Chef” because more than his skills in the kitchen, he’s “always got something cooking” like so many entrepreneurs often do.
In 2007, Chef deployed to Afghanistan and quickly became aware of a shortfall in the quantity of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) because of a bottleneck in training due to a lack of air support. Chef proposed the concept of contracting former military pilots to fly retired military aircraft to provide this invaluable training. Eventually in 2008, Chef founded Blue Air Training LLC to fill this need. Now, Military Contracted Air Support has become a multi-billion dollar global industry.
Blue Air Training has executed over 45,000 airstrikes, trained nearly every JTAC in the US, Canada, Germany, the UK, and Australia and saved taxpayers over one billion dollars. Featured in Inc500 and Vet50, the winner of the SBA’s Veteran Owned Business of the year, and 5-time Seminole 100 recipient with two #1 rankings, Blue Air Training revolutionized how militaries train close air support. In March 2022, Blue Air Training merged with Top Aces Inc. of Canada to bring the world’s leading Close Air Support and Adversary Air providers under one roof. The combined companies have flown over 135,000 flight hours with their 143 fighter and attack aircraft ranging from OV-10 Broncos to F-16s based in 5 countries.
James is happily married to his best friend, Gretchen Barlow, a former Air Force pharmacist, and they have two sons Ben and Trent, both of whom served in the Air Force. In January 2024, James refocused his efforts with the company to strategic initiatives and now serves as a board advisor. He enjoys tournament marlin fishing, sailboat racing, and competitive shooting, and contributes to FSU as an Executive Member of the Board of Governors.
