I first met ‘Joe’ at the 560th FTS in 1982. He was a ‘nice enough’ guy; maybe kinda ‘anal’ – but conscientious and well meaning. He tended to ‘micro-manage,’ often overlooking ‘the big picture.’ One evening while we were sharing stories in “Three’s Inn,” one of the young guys told this story about Joe.
The morning briefing was early, somewhere around 0500 – 0530. Just after the briefing, it was announced that flying for the morning had been suspended due of weather. So the IPs all grabbed coffee and settled in the flight commander’s office to “shoot the Bull” a bit. As the stories began to flow, no one paid any attention to Joe getting up and leaving the room. However, after he returned they all noticed the left sleeve of his flight suit was soaking wet.
When asked about it Joe offered, without reservation, “Ahhh, you guys won’t believe it. I went into the john for my ‘morning constitution,’ and afterward, discovered I had dropped my left sleeve in the stool!”
YGBSM! To do something like that is one thing; to admit it is another! Especially in front of a group of pilots! If I had harbored any reservations about Joe up until then, they were now all resolved…