Category Archives: USAF

My 3,000 T-38-Hour ‘Backstory’

And now for the “backstory” of how I was able to acquire 3,000 hours in the T-38… I had always wanted to fly Fighters, but it just was not meant to be. In 1975 I found my way into T-38s … Continue reading

Posted in E'spirit de Corps, Uncategorized, USAF | Leave a comment

Finding Dorsey…

In 1965 and 1966 I applied to the Air Force Academy. I didn’t apply earlier as I attended high school overseas, and for some reason or another, it just didn’t dawn on me. In 1965 I was rejected because I … Continue reading

Posted in USAF | Leave a comment

Quietly Acknowledging Gratitude…

I grew up as an Air Force “Brat;” a child of the Air Force. I don’t know when or what it was that I was captured with the “spirit” of flying for the Air Force but it was early on. … Continue reading

Posted in USAF | Leave a comment

No BDA, but One Hell of an Airshow!

In the early 80’s I ran into (Retired) M/Gen. Peter DeLonga at an airshow at Kelly Field, TX, and he shared a great story with us – about an “airshow” he put on in Vietnam. In 1970 he was flying … Continue reading

Posted in E'spirit de Corps, USAF | Leave a comment

“Judgement”

When we graded UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) students after a ride there was always a block called “Judgement” on the grade sheet ‘Judgement’ was a graded item in all the different phases of training: contact, formation, nav and instruments. The … Continue reading

Posted in E'spirit de Corps, The Book, UPT | Leave a comment

The ‘Mexican Standoff’ in New Hampshire

In 1977 Col. Wilson C. Cooney was assigned to Vance AFB, OK as our Director of Operations (DO). As he was settling in to the operations he wanted to visit our ACE* (Accelerated Copilot Enrichment) bases. I was a T-38 … Continue reading

Posted in Humor, The Book, UPT, USAF | Leave a comment

Beauty!

In 1978 I was the Chief of Safety at Vance AFB, OK. One morning we received a call from the Command Post telling us that one of our T-37s (Tweets) had crashed. My first concern was for the condition of … Continue reading

Posted in The Book, UPT, USAF | Leave a comment

A Thud, Out in A Pasture…

A lone man is seen walking up a remote country lane one afternoon, apparently alone deep in thought. Off to the side, sitting in a pasture, is a warhorse from years past – a Thud. Did the man fly the … Continue reading

Posted in USAF | Leave a comment

Leadership

I learned a ‘first hand’ lesson on leadership while serving as the Investigator on a T-38A aircraft accident board in January 1979. A T-38 had crashed at Ellsworth AFB, ND and I was appointed as the Investigator. Typically on a … Continue reading

Posted in USAF | Leave a comment

Flying With Iranians…

In the late ’70’s, we received 29 Iranians at Vance AFB, OK for pilot training.  In preparation for these guys we had a 3-4 hour briefing on their (Muslim) customs from the State Department. (In retrospect, one of the best … Continue reading

Posted in The Book, UPT, USAF, War Stories | Leave a comment