A J Hughes entered the Argentine Military Flying School "Escuela de Aviación Militar" in 1948, located in Córdoba.

In 1966 he was sent as a captain to the US in order to bring the firsts A4B Skyhawks, which were destined to the 5th Air Brigade "V Brigada Aérea" in Villa Reynolds, San Luis.

The Argentine air fleet was mainly composed of American jetplanes Douglas A4B-C Skyhawk, French Mirage, Israeli Dagger and the British bomber Canberra.

By the end of the war in June 1982, he was pointed by the surviving pilots to become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine Air Force.

[1] In 1983, elections were called and fivedays before president Alfonsin took power on December 10, he retired and his pilot career came to an end.