John Stratton is a former American soccer defender

Defender (association football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 and currently an active duty U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot. Stratton played one season in the A-League

A-League (1995–2004)

The A-League was a professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. The A-League emerged out of the restructured American Professional Soccer League in 1995 and operated until 2004, after which it was re-branded the USL First Division...

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Stratton graduated from Horizon High School

Horizon High School (Thornton, Colorado)

Horizon High School is a public secondary institution located in Thornton, Colorado. The school was recognized by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 1994, 1995 and 1996...

 in Thornton, Colorado

Thornton, Colorado

The city of Thornton is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado and a suburb of the Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thornton is northeast of the state's capital, Denver. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...

. He then attended the United States Air Force Academy

United States Air Force Academy

The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...

, where he played on the men’s soccer team from 1993 to 1996. He was a First Team All American his senior season. Stratton graduated in 1997 with a bachelors degree in political science. He spent the 1997 seaons with the Colorado Foxes

Colorado Foxes

The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the APSL between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. When Major League Soccer started and the Colorado Rapids became the region's premier team, the Foxes tried to stay...

 of the A-League

A-League (1995–2004)

The A-League was a professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. The A-League emerged out of the restructured American Professional Soccer League in 1995 and operated until 2004, after which it was re-branded the USL First Division...

 before attending Air Force flight training. Following his graduation from Air Force flight training in 1999, he embarked on a career as an F-15

F-15 Eagle

The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...

 pilot. He was later one of the three stars of the 2004 IMAX

IMAX

IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...

 film Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag is an IMAX film centered around the experiences of a USAF F-15 Eagle fighter pilot, then-Captain John Stratton, who wants to be professionally successful as a fighter pilot. It chronicles his experience during USAF Red Flag training at Nellis AFB, a simulated air...

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