The whole SoarinDash ship has never sat well with me, as I see the all the Wonderbolts as being older than Rainbow Dash by at least five years. Recruiting obviously doesn’t happen very often and Soarin has lines under his eyes.
When Dash is at the acedmy, I see her as about 20 and Soarin around 36. He’s been a Wonderbolt for quite some time and used to be the leader of the group. He stepped down when Spitfire came into the picture. She is brash and has somewhat of a single-track mind, which is why she so plainly brushed Soarin aside when he was injured at Rainbow Falls. She thought he was getting a little old to be a Wonderbolt and knew how much Dash wanted to be accepted by her. Soarin knew this pretty much right away but put on a facade when he was speaking with Rainbow Dash, so as to spare her from realizing Spitfire was kinda a bitch. Needless to say he straightened Spitfire out when they got back to the Academy.
Spitfire is more of a showpony. She knows how to please an audience. But before joining the Wonderbolts, Soarin was in the Aeroforce. He has military training and experience. So when war was declared Aeroforce pushed Spitfire off her pedestal and reinstated Soarin as head of the Wonderbolts. He took command and lead his troop into the field. Nearly every single Wonderbolt made it back home.
He retired upon his return back to Equestria and settled down with his husband on the outskirts of Cloudsdale.