Category Archives: The Book

“CP-IP”

Posted on 04/07/2012 by Bobo

We had a gal show up in the Squadron (560th FTS) sometime in the mid-80s.  She was somewhat of a ‘ball of fire.’  Young, capable, a good pilot, self-motivated, personable – she was a delightful additional to our unit. One … Continue reading →

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Ms.Y

Posted on 08/05/2012 by Bobo

Mrs. Yuhnke, “Ms. Y,” was my secretary when I was the Chief of Safety for the 71st FTW, Vance AFB, OK, 1977 – 1978.  In retrospect, I think Ms. Y was the Chief of Safety, and I was just allowed … Continue reading →

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“LA Center, this is Austin P. Decker, III, on Guard!”

Posted on 08/04/2012 by Bobo

I don’t know when I first heard the story of ‘Austin P. Decker, III;’ maybe in the fall of 1970 just after night flying in Tweets (T-37s)?  That’s when stories like this were told.  They are funny in and of … Continue reading →

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Blink Colonel! Gawd-dammit, Blink!

Posted on 23/02/2012 by Bobo

In the mid-70s, Col. Tom M. was the Commander of the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance AFB, OK.  I was the Chief of Safety at the time. Once a week Col. M. held a staff meeting.  Lt. Col Clyde … Continue reading →

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Freedom 165

Posted on 26/01/2012 by Bobo

In the Spring of 1988 I had the honor, and privilege of flying with Col. Fred V. Cherry.  Col. Cherry had been a POW in North Vietnam from October 1965 to January 1973.  He had been a member of my … Continue reading →

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Observation: Pilot Training

Posted on 26/01/2012 by Bobo

The only difference between a UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) student, and a North Vietnamese gunner is – on graduation day, the student ‘thinks’ he likes you….

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Busting Across Seguin…

Posted on 03/01/2012 by Bobo

There are some things I did while flying the ’38 that were almost “not quite legal;” I don’t know why?  Perhaps because I could?  ‘Busting across Seguin’ one day was one of them… I was going somewhere the other day … Continue reading →

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The “Carn’s” Final Flight

Posted on 25/11/2011 by Bobo

As a Flight Commander, a couple things I focused on were; e’spirit de corps and heritage.  I felt an obligation to ‘those who went before us,’ to infuse these concepts into ‘the new kids.’  One of the techniques I used … Continue reading →

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“Click-click,” Time for a Beer…

Posted on 25/11/2011 by Bobo

The mic (microphone) button in the T-38 was located on the inside of the left throttle.  Often, when we flew in formation and wanted to communicate using hand signals between IPs, we would ‘click’ the mic button twice – ‘click-click.’  … Continue reading →

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“Switch Hitter”

Posted on 14/11/2011 by Bobo

I discovered a poem a few years ago, written by Dan Quisenberry.  It’s a beautiful poem of baseball, entitled “Switch Hitter.”  I related to it right away; albeit from a different perspective.  I related to it from my experience in … Continue reading →

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