Our Speaker

Brian “Bru” Brurud

Brian “Bru” Brurud

President, Check-6 Training Systems.

As one of the most decorated US Naval Fighter Pilots since the Vietnam War, Brian “Bru” Brurud has extensive experience in the US Military and the private business sectors. He was instrumental in bringing US Naval Carrier Aviation into the 21st Century; authoring numerous classified tactical publications and developing culture changing training systems, and tactics.

Raised in Oklahoma as a ranch kid and cowboy, “Bru” began his professional career as a geologist in 1984 working for Schlumberger in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). A few years later, he joined the Navy and began a 21year career as a fighter pilot for the Navy and Air National Guard, flying F-14, F/A-18, and F-16 aircraft.

The highlights of his career include standardizing aircraft carrier strike tactics and training, creating the training syllabus for airborne Forward Air Controllers, and leading combat missions in Kosovo and Iraq. These efforts allowed the Pacific and Atlantic fleets to work together seamlessly and changed the course of history for the F-14 Tomcat’s last decade of service. For his combat actions, he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and numerous Air Medals. Additionally, “Bru” designed and built a natural gas gathering/processing facility in Oklahoma and drilled for coal bed methane in Colorado.

After military retirement, he worked as a commercial airline pilot and founded Check-6, a human performance improvement consultancy comprised of predominantly exmilitary aircrew from a number of international forces, Special-Operations operatives, and Astronauts.

He has survived 436 carrier landings, 99 combat missions, 17 Surface-to-Air-Missile (SAM) attacks, and 1 aircraft ejection. He is also the featured subject in “Black Aces High”, written by Robert Wilcox which depicts a “…Modern fighter squadron at war…”

Check-6 was founded in 2007 and takes the best practices from aircraft carrier aviation, nuclear Navy and Space to improve efficiency and safety while reducing risk in high hazard capital projects. They do this by deploying proven elite military leaders to embed with front line operations teams. The company operates internationally, with our global HQ in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Specifics

Born: Bartlesville, OK
Graduated:
- College High School, 1979, Bartlesville, OK
- Oklahoma State University, 1984, BS Geology
- Aviation Officer Candidate School, USN, 1986, Pensacola, Florida
- Completed: USN Flight Training, 1988, Kingsville, TX
- Separated form USN in 2002 (16 Years)
- Arkansas Air National Guard, 188FW, Ft. Smith, AR, 2002-2007 (5 Years)
Two Daughters (23/20): Bailey, OU Grad. 2018; Mallory, Junior at UCO