I'm Back ...

Not Again?
OAFS Photo

My latest sojourn down in the Old Line State has come to an end. With The Missus Herself out in California, with three feet of snow on the ground, I made the call to flee to the south, see The Nuke and her tribe. It was a good call. Though the 2nd of March presented that opening scene ...

It didn't last. What you see is about all we received, maybe another few fractions of an inch, but no more. As Shakespeare might have said ...

Much ado about nothing

But it was picturesque as one might imagine. Sitting on the sun porch, one of my favorite spots down there, just watching the world go by as the snow gently fell.

Unlike two weeks ago when Little Rhody (and much of the Northeast along the coast) got hammered by a blizzard which left three feet of the white stuff. But that, thank you very much, lies in our wake as winter is winding down. The robins have returned from the deep woods and can be seen cavorting on the grass. At least in Maryland they are.

The trip down was pleasant and uneventful, the trip back was much the same. Flying solo I could leave as early as you like and crank the tunes up on the CD player (yes, I have one in my car, most convenient it is.) Surprisingly, I didn't listen to music the entire way, I like a little peace and quiet from time to time as much as the next man.

No. Really.

Anyhoo ...

Got back to the picture below Sunday instant.

What Snow?
OAFS Photo

Most of of it is gone. Driveway is clear, street is clear, mailbox is accessible, all is well.

Thanks to juvat for keeping the fires burning while I was away.

Good man there.

Too much death lately, in the world and personally. I know it's inevitable but it still sucks when it hits close. Friends losing significant others, friends losing beloved pets, it's all too effing much sometimes.

But life, and love, goes on.

I hope you have it, if not, I hope you find it.

Peace.

Miss those days. Miss that band.

Eagles

 

 

One of the regular commenters on Sarge’s blog asked me an interesting question

I see that Kuwatis are using F-15s for target practice. Having paid attention to yesterday's post, I knew that most F-15s are single seaters but these were all two seater "Strike Eagles" as opposed to other types. What's that all about?

 
Kinda like the Navy guys with the original "Bugs" being fighters and then later ones becoming F/A-18s. Or, the F-14 Tomcat becoming the "Bombcat."

Perhaps a topic you could enlighten us about in a future post?

Not sure enlightenment is in my array of capabilities, but here goes.

When the Eagle first came on board, it was Air to Air ONLY!  The Air Force had spent a lot of time, money and influence to get an Air Supremacy capable aircraft.  And with a 105 to 0 record in Iraq, it certainly was capable.

However,  the pencil pushers in the 5 sided Palace for idiots (no, I don't have any animosity about the place, no, I don't, no, really! Ok Some) decided in order to save money, they would add Air to Ground to the Eagle's capability's.

All hell broke loose.  First, air to air is a difficult skill to be proficient at, it takes a lot of practice.  Second, the aircraft would need to be modified to carry air to ground weapons and be able to deliver them while still maintaining Air to Air capability's.  

This went round and round for a few years and finally a compromise was agreed upon.  The F-15A-D models would be air to air only, while the F-15E would be primarily Air to Ground but would have some Air to Air capability. 

F-15E

 Here's an interesting article about the capabilities of a Strike Eagle (the nickname for an F-15E).

 But, while it does have air to air capability, the aircrews aren't as well trained in air to air as the  pilots in C and D model Eagles.  (As does air to ground, but the C and D models, which CAN do air to ground, I don't believe we ever dropped bombs.) 

F-15 D (Mine!)

They could, and would sometimes, put the conformal fuel tanks (shown in the opening F-15E picture above) on the C and D model F-15s.  I've flown with them a couple of times.  I thought there was a significant reduction in maneuverability, but the Air Staff said that was all BS.  

But it's pretty much a moot point.  According to this article the C and D models of the Eagle will be retired and replaced with the F-15EX when it comes on line in numbers. In the interim, the C and D model mission will be handled by F-16s, F-22's, and F-35's. Given that the last time I flew an Eagle was 1987 and my jet was already 10 years old and they're just now retiring them after almost 50 years of flying air to air missions.  Air to Air requires a lot of very hard maneuvering in air to air which puts an AWFUL lot of stress on both the airplane and the Pilot.  So, there's a pretty good assumption that they've had a hard life and deserve a break. But, I'm a little sad to see my jet retired. Even if I am also retired.

Frankly, I think F-15 78-564 looks a lot better than me in our respective retirement roles. 

MY Eagle just a new paint job, number and owner (unfortunately that last one isn't me).

 Peace out, Y’all.  Sarge should be returning to his normal broadcast schedule tomorrow. See you next Monday!

Construction Progress,

 Well Campers, another week has gone by.  Not a lot of "Big" things going on.  

This  Big Thing was seen out the back door of our current domicile

Got another big thing.  We had an on-site meeting with our contractor to look at the site and measure where things are going to go. 

Notice the Electrical Connection on the right and the water connection to the left of the big tree in the middle of the picture.  Progress!!

 

But to our, unprofessional, eyes some of the areas that were cleared of trees and brush are not clear enough for the buildings that are going into those clearings.

Specifically, and most importantly, the clearing for my Brother's cottage has two large trees in the center of it.  Didn't know if that was an oversight or just waiting for the tree clearing guy to get us back on his schedule.  Hence, one of the reasons for our meeting.

Upon meeting with the contractor, he said that the clearing guy was coming back this week to take down the mature trees.  What he'd brought out last week was to clear the brush and small 2-3" saplings.  Okay, that makes sense. 

The other clearing area in progress is the area for our hobby huts.  A workshop for me and one for Mrs J who affectionately called hers  a "She Shed".  As can be seen below, we need to take down a few saplings and small trees to have enough room for those.

Another factor that's got to be considered is order of construction.  The house is obviously a big deal in that schedule, but we need to get shelter and fence for the horses before they bankrupt us at the horse hotel they're currently staying at.

Oh, and off topic, when you're mucking stalls and shoveling "you know what" into buckets, it serves you well to inspect the bucket and insure that it isn't covered with fire ants.  I didn't!  The little bastiges are brutal and numerous.  Spray Benadryl is an integral part of our mucking equipment now. 

Back on subject, juvat!

On subject, aye Sarge!  

So, the horse area has high priority.  Not sure of the priority for our house versus my brother's cottage and time to construct for each.  Hence the meeting this morning.

Mrs J has been working hard on the designs of the structures mentioned.  Once we get the "wish list" settled, the Contractor can take them and turn them into blueprints which will take 2 weeks.  At that point, construction can start and he estimates it'll take 8 months to complete.

He then can move his teams around all four  projects so things can get done simultaneously.

So, that should speed up completion a bit or at least make the 8 month date more of a reality. That's where we are in this project.

Just to change the subject and given the time of year.  Mrs J sent me this funny, but true screenshot.  Enjoy! 

 ,”

Found on Instagram

‘True Dat!

Peace out, Y'all! 

Formation Flying F-15 Style

So, There I was.....* Assistant Ops Officer of an F-15C Squadron at Kadena AB Japan.  It's a beautiful winter day just prior to Christmas.  The weather outside was a coolish 80 degrees, a few low clouds, winds down the runway at about 10 knots.  In short, a great day to commit aviation.  I've got a flight scheduled in a few hours and so am manning the duty desk until brief time. (Since I am the junior of the three people authorized to man the duty desk, I do that a lot.) Anyhow, I'm sitting there watching paint dry when in walks the Boss's Boss, the Wing King.  (Actually a great guy and leader, went on to three stars and even then was a credible threat in the Eagle).  I quickly call the Squadron to attention and as quickly get the "At Ease".  He's got a CMSgt in tow whom I don't recognize.  He introduces him to me and I promptly started calling him by his first name.  I guess his parents must have been Native Americans, why else would he be called "Chief"? Anyhow, Chief is in a flight suit which is somewhat unusual.  BDUs or Blues and I wouldn't have batted an eye, but flight suit, that was unusual.  He's got the PACAF chest patch that we all wore, but a PACAF HQ patch where a Squadron patch would be.  So, he's a headquarters wienie.  HMMMM.

I ask the Wing King what I can do for them.  He says he's would like to rearrange our next go (the one I'm leading) and instead of the 2 v 4 that was scheduled, he'd like it to be a 5 ship and an advanced handling ride.  My confusion factor is going up, we don't "do" 5 ships.  He says he's also talked to our maintenance to make sure one of the squadron's F-15D two-seaters is in that flight.  Obviously, Chief is going for a ride. Questions are running furiously through my mind, but "Yes, Sir".  He then says "Chief is the head of the PACAF HQ photographic detachment and would like to take pictures of Eagles in flight for a recruiting campaign".  AHHH!

"Do whatever he tells you. General McPeak has approved the mission."

The Wing King exits the building.

I take Chief into my office and start to ask him details of what he wants to do.  "Oh the usual stuff, formation, dropping flares, pitch outs, rejoins.  You know...The usual!"

 "Oh, and by the way, can we do an over the top?"

"Sure, after we get all your pictures, I'll do a loop."

"Not exactly what we were looking for, Major.  We would like pictures of the four ship going over the top."

"Hmm, never done that.  Shouldn't be hard, just never done it.  The General himself approved this mission?"

"Yes Sir, he approved the mission."

I get with the 4 ship lead and talk about how we're going to do all this.  Get it all worked out and brief the rest of the guys.

We launch and take the usual pictures and then get ready to do the loop. Over the top we go, just like the Thunderbirds.

Come back in and land and am in the Squadron when in walks the Wing King who asks how it went.  I tell him it went great and pictures of the loop should be spectacular.  He goes white as a sheet.  "What Loop?"  

A couple of months later, I get a package in the mail containing a couple of very high quality pictures and a thank you letter from Chief (USAF ret). He thanked me for giving him the best retirement present he could have gotten and advised me NOT to hang this picture in my office.

 

 Fortunately, our Wing Commander was a standup guy.  He started to hem and haw, but realized that he had approved whatever the Chief wanted.  I bought him a beer or two at the O club as penance.  He blessed me and sent me on my way.

 

AND retired with 3 stars.  A great guy and an outstanding fighter pilot.

 

Note the horizon on the top left of the picture. This may be the ONLY picture of 4 Eagles in this attitude ever taken.  I'm positive  that the retired Lt Gen has a copy as well as a retired CMSgt, and a Lt Colonel (retired) AKA me.  How else would I have been able to publish the photograph above?  I look at it everyday.

Peace out y'all! 

06 March 2012

In Memoriam

It's been fourteen years ...

Feels like yesterday some times ...

Feels like forever at others ...

Still miss you Lex, I always will.

I pray that we shall meet on the other side, no matter where that might be.

Ave atque vale.

Our Lex ...

You gotta have trust! And, even moreso, you gotta be trustworthy!

 

Another redo from when I joined Sarge's bandwagon and starting posting. 

Back in the day my folks would try and teach me the need for trust in the world.  One needed to trust their fellow man to do the right thing or else one would spend his entire life looking over his shoulder for protection instead of ahead for opportunity.  

Of course they also taught that once someone had proved themselves untrustworthy...Well, don't trust them.  Ever.  I'm not talking a simple "letting you down", but actual betrayal.  Failing to do their duty to honor their word deliberately regardless of reason.  That was the ultimate sin.

Then I joined the military and realized where that ethos came from.  My instructors insisted on trustworthiness in themselves and their students.  That expectation extended through all members of the military.  If you wore the uniform, your word was your bond.  You may fail, but you failed while giving your best.

 An F-4E from my squadron at Moody AFB.

Source

 

As a "For Instance", even non-flying readers will realize that an In-Flight Fire is an extremely serious event.  They would not be wrong.  Unlike a sailplane, the engines are the things that keep you aloft.  Without them, you are going to be landing.  Whether on a runway or not, is not generally your choice.  The airplane is coming down. Period.

Ok, how does the USAF address an Engine Fire?  The "Bible" on aircraft operations in the Air Force is affectionately called the "Dash One".  The F-4E Dash One can be found here.  Just as an example of how important that document is, 40 plus years after the last time I read it, looking through the Engine Fire or Overheat during Flight Emergency Procedure, I recognized some subtle changes in the wording and punctuation of the procedure from the previous reading.  That's how serious we took that book. In any case, here's the procedure. (It's found on Page 3-9 at the link above.)

Engine Fire or Overheat during Flight

1. Throttle bad engine - IDLE
2. If warning light goes out - CHECK FIRE DETECTION SYSTEM
Depress fire test button to determine that the fire detecting elements are not burned through.
3. If detection system check is satisfactory (i.e., warning lights illuminate when checked) - LAND AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE
Increasing thrust on the bad engine after the throttle has been retarded and the warning light has been extinguished may cause fire or overheat damage, and/or possible burn through the fire detecting elements.
4. If warning light remains Illuminated or fire detection system is inoperative or fire is confirmed - SHUTDOWN ENGINE
5. If fire persists - EJECT
6 . If fire ceases - LAND AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE 

CAUTION
Do not attempt to restart the bad engine. If the fire ceases, and a landing is to be accomplished, make a single engine landing.

Pay particular attention to #5 in that procedure.  If the fire light does NOT go out, you are to eject from the airplane. Period-Dot-End of Story.

So, juvat, interesting, but where are we going with this story?

Trust, my Friend, Trust.  We had an E-model at Moody that was pretty much a hangar queen. (For the non-familiar, the term indicates the jet has a boatload of mechanical problems which are difficult to ascertain, expensive to fix and the fix may not fix the entire problem.) One of the requirements when a Hanger Queen is thought to be "Fixed" is to give it a "Functional Check Flight" or FCF.  This is always flown by a VERY experienced crew and is flown on a fixed profile with specific parameters to make sure the airplane is fixed and ready to be put on the daily schedule.  This jet had passed it's FCF flight and was back on the schedule.

I'm Flight Lead for a 4 ship range ride to go and drop practice bombs and fire the gun at the gunnery range at Eglin AFB FL.  

No those are not 25Lb Practice bombs, those are inert 500Lb Bombs, but that is Eglin Range. Source

Typically the aircraft is loaded with 12 x 25Lb practice bombs and 100 rounds of 20mm bullets. 

 

Source

 Fighter Pilots, being the competitive type, typically bet on the scores.  Quarter a bomb, nickle a Hole.  So, worst case, one could be out 8 bucks, plus the requirement to buy beer in the Debrief.

Bragging rights, however, were worth much more than that.  So, one tried their very best.

Unfortunately, on this sortie, I've drawn the Hangar Queen and, even with my best body English, couldn't get the bombs very close or the gun to hit the target.  I'm irritated at myself on the way home and we're about halfway there when I simultaneously hear/see the Master Caution light come on and hear the WSO yell something about "Fire" over the intercom.  Suffice it to say, I am focused at this point.  

The right engine fire light is on.  Technically, at this point, I'm supposed to ask the WSO to get into the check list and read me the procedure after which I will perform the procedure.  That works well in the Simulator.  (AFAIK no one has actually died in the Sim.)  I immediately pull the throttle to Idle.  Nothing.  I decide on a count to 10 before skipping to #4 on the Emergency Procedure.  I know it didn't take 10 seconds for that count, more like 1  maybe 2.  

Light's still on.  So I shut down the engine.  Soon as it spools down, the light goes out.  I push the test button, it lights up and goes out when I release the test.  I have one of the wingmen give me a look over.  Nothing, no smoke, no visual damage.  OK we get to skip #5 (Thank you, Lord.  My takeoff #s in a jet will continue to match my landing #s in a jet.)  

Approach and landing are normal, well, as normal as a single engine approach and landing gets, and also except for the fire trucks, ambulances and other crash vehicles near the runway ready to respond if things go south.  

We pull into the dearm area.  Dearm crew safes the crucial stuff and give the shutdown signal.  1.6 nanoseconds later, myself and the WSO are on the ground and vacating the immediate vicinity.  

The jet goes back into maintenance, the maintenance repair checklists are applied and she  gets back on an FCF schedule.  The same thing happens.  Back into maintenance and another FCF.  Again a Fire Warning Right Engine.  In that afternoon's Wing Honcho meeting, the Maintenance Commander wants to annotate the problem in the maintenance forms as a "glitch" and keep the jet on the schedule. Maintenance Stats...Gotta love 'em.

At that point in the meeting, the Wing Commander relieved him from command.  As he did so, he said "If the warning light comes on, how does the pilot know that the jet is not on fire? If he stays with the jet and it IS on fire, he and his WSO will likely be killed.  Is your in-service rate worth that?"

In other words, the Maintenance Officer had betrayed our trust.

The jet went to depot maintenance and AFAIK never flew again, at least not at Moody.

BTW, that Wing Commander went on to 3 stars.  IMHO, shoulda had 4. Great Pilot, Excellent Leader, Talented Instructor.  One of the leaders I tried to emulate.

Interesting story, juvat, but what's behind this story? Well, when Little J and LJW's baby was born, she was very premature.  That required hospitalization for a couple of months.  This story would be about Miss B's monitoring equipment and sensors.  More knowledgeable medical readers may correct me, but I believe that one of the last organs that develop when a Baby is in the Womb are their lungs.  Therefore, premies, spending less time there, tend to have lung issues after birth.  Miss B is (was when this was first published, she's normal now) currently on O2 while her lungs get better.  She also wore a Pulse Ox sensor that kept track of her pulse rate and oxygen saturation level in her blood.  It set off an alarm when either reading goes below the minimum level. 

That alarm can, and should, be heard throughout the house.

However, the Damn thing went off ALL THE F.....g time!  The medical equipment company says that's caused by the baby moving.  OK, maybe.  But, then, why does it go off when she's sound asleep and not moving.  AKA one of us is sitting right beside her watching when it goes off.

So...Next they said it's a faulty sensor cord.  OK.  They send a new one.  Except that one is for a different model sensor. 

Top two are the new cable.  Bottom two are the old cable.  I'm not an electrician, but something tells me the new ones won't work.

 They send a new, new one with a technician.  No change.  Course the baby's awake while he's here, so moving.  Later that same day.  No movement, still alarms.  

Drive down to San Antonio to meet with the Pulmonary Docs.  They hook up their device side by side with ours.  There's doesn't squawk and their readings are virtually the same as ours.  Guess what squawks.

I mentioned to them my story about Trust and the fire light and asked what, worst case, might happen in the middle of the night if LJW, being extremely sleep deprived and tired, decided it was a false alarm and rolled over and went back to sleep.

After a bit of testing of the new equipment,  suffice it to say, the NICU Staff and Docs are on Santa's good list while the Medical Equipment folks...well...aren't!

Nap Time!

 

The problem was resolved and improvement was measurable immediately.  As I mentioned, she's doing fine nowadays. She and her parents are in England.  She's now attending pre-school at a school near London.  

 

Fashionista!

She's one of the few American's at the school, so she's picking up a bit of a British accent, which is a hoot for a three, going on four, year old.  They're coming home for Christmas!  Can't wait.

 

Peace out y'all! 

One of the true heroes in my life! Part 2

 

 

So there I was…an At-38B Instructor Pilot at Holloman Airplane Patch New Mexico.  I’ve been there about two years and my non-flying duty is squadron scheduler.  I have been blessed with a “good deal”, and I have made the most of it.

Current Wing Policy is that all senior Wing Personnel will receive check rides from the Chief of Stan-Eval.  The actual name is Standardization and Evaluation, most of us called them Stan Evil.  Ostensibly the requirement for the Wing King and the like to get their check rides from the Branch Chief was to reduce the likelihood of “undue Command Influence” in passing their check rides.  Works for me!  A Lieutenant Colonel looking for a Squadron to Command and therefore, earn his ticket to Bird Colonel.  No possibility for influence there…..

In any case, those thunderstorms raged far, far above my limited horizon.  My immediate problem was simple.  I had busted the Director of Operations (The number three guy in the Wing, call sign Vegas) on his last ride before his check ride.  Apparently, he had forgotton everything he’d learned in his 4000+ hours of flying about landing a jet, therefore he required another practice ride and his Check Ride was scheduled for tomorrow.

The Chief of Stan-Eval had booked a cruise for the day after and would not be available for the next two weeks. When dealing with the gods, scheduling is important.

I get back into the squadron, and the squadron CO is waiting for me.  Already having  been chastised by Vegas for having questioned my busting him on the ride, he asks me what my intention is.  I look at the schedule and see a three ship of IPs scheduled  for a continuation sortie.  Continuation sorties were missions where the IPs flew front seat and actually got to fly the jet and remain proficient at flying a fighter.  Students may or may not get to tag along in the back seat. Didn’t get a lot of them and these three guys were going to go out and fly a 2 V 1.  This was about as fun and complex a mission as we were allowed.  Highly sought after. Schedulers were able to get IPs to do all sorts of unpleasant things on the promise of a continuation ride.

I walk up to the schedule, draw a line through the 1 in the 2 V 1 and wrote Vegas and my name in.  The IPs would now be going on a 1 V 1.  Vegas and I would get our refly.  I was not popular.

Obviously, this ride was going to be later in the day and at Holloman during the summer, a later sortie made everything just a little bit more difficult.  The pressure altitude was higher, the engines responded different, winds were gusty, dust frequently blew so visibility was worse.  In short, for a person having difficulty landing a jet, flying late in the afternoon could make or break him.

We blast off, go to the area for a few minutes just to get down to landing weight, then return to the pattern for touch and go’s.  I’m a bit tense, but Vegas doesn’t seem to be worried.  He flies down initial, pitches out, configures, starts the turn, rolls out on speed and greases the landing.  Requests closed, granted, rolls out on downwind, configures, starts the turn, rolls out on speed and greases the landing.  Starts the go around, and says, “You want to fly the rest?”

I clearly had passed the test.

It’s now towards the end of the program.  Vegas had flown with other IPs, but I still was his primary IP.  We’re now in the first ride in the Air to Ground phase and Vegas is in the front seat.

 Once he sees the bombing range from the front seat, he will switch to the back seat and “instruct” me in Air to Ground techniques. Truthfully, I’m looking forward to it.  We had just completed Air to Air, and having him in my back seat instructing me (note the lack of quotation marks), had been VERY educational both for my IP skills as well as my actual Fighter Pilot skills.  I was looking forward to experiencing the same in Air to Ground. 

We’ve been to the range, dropped our 6 blue practice bombs and headed home.

We’re coming down initial for runway 16 and I hear the tower clear a flight of 4 F-15s on to runway 25 to hold. 

We pitch out, configure, turn final for a Touch and Go.  Roll out on final, I do a quick look out the nose of the Jet to check lineup, configuration etc.  (I’m still the Aircraft Commander, and IP, it’s my butt if something happens.)  As expected, Vegas is on the numbers.  I glance out the right side of the jet as we cross over the overrun….

Pause for a scenario setting .  Runway 16 and Runway 25 butt up against one another.  The overruns intersect.

The problem will occur in the light gray area at the top center of the photo.

Clearing a flight on to hold, gives that flight permission to do just that.  Taxi into position and sit there until given clearance to do something else.

It does not give you permission to run your engines up to military power in anticipation of takeoff!!

So, enough interlude.  I glance out the right expecting big wide exhaust nozzles  from 8 Pratt and Whitney F-100 Engines .

 

This is what F-15 engines look like in Idle as they should be while waiting for permission to take off.  Below is an F-15 in Mil Power and what I'm seeing

 

I advance the throttles into afterburner, while at the same time calmly communicating to Vegas that I was going to take command of the aircraft and would he please let go of the stick (I slammed the throttles to AB while I screamed “I got it!!”), just as we hit the turbulence.

The jet rolled to the left, and my guardian angel kicked in at that second, because my expected reaction should have been to roll back right.  I didn't, I added right rudder, which yawed the nose away from the ground as well as countered the rolling moment. I have no idea where that reaction, the only and absolute right move, came from.   I’m not sure what the angle of bank was, but I have a very clear picture of looking up at the runway.  The jet begins to yaw the nose above the horizon while rolling back towards level. We exit the turbulence as the aircraft rights itself.  I clean the gear and flaps up and remember the burners.  About this time, Vegas calls from the front seat and says “Well, that was exciting, do you mind if I fly the full stop?”  “No Sir, not at all.”

These guys practice it,  me, not so much!

Full stop, and Vegas asks what happened.  He’d never seen the four ship and all he knew was we had almost lost control.  I explained what had happened.  Debrief began later than usual that day as my student was unavailable.  Evidently, a flight lead lost his flight lead status.

About 6 months later, I’m now the Wing Scheduler and am up for assignment.  The F-4 is being phased out and F-15s and F-16s are starting to be assigned.  However, the AF still needs folks assigned to F-4Gs as well as F-111s, so the policy is that IPs  up for assignment in the next 6 months will be divided into Top Half/ Bottom Half.  Top Half will get the jet of their dreams; Bottom Half will get needs of the AF.  I’m fairly certain I’m in the Top Half, but, since I also want to be assigned with my wife, also military, and 2 year old son, I’m a bit tense.  Today is the day.  I get the call from my assignment officer.  F-4G to George.  I’m disappointed, but it is with my wife, so that’s the way the ball bounces. 

Vegas also knows this is the day.  He comes walking in to my office and asks what I got.  I tell him, his jaw drops and he says “Captain, can I borrow your desk?”  Dials an number and says (I’ve forgotten the name, so let’s use Stan)”Stan, Vegas here, do you personnel wienies still subscribe to the Top Half/Bottom Half policy?....Well, I’d like to know why Juvat here, my number one guy in this assignment tranche, is getting an F-4G? …..Yeah, I know about his wife…..Look, Colonel, I've got a retention problem here (he did) and if I can’t get my number one guy a new jet, what am I going to tell the rest of the guys to keep them in the AF? Why should they stay? I want him in an Eagle, and I want his wife assigned to the same base.” 

At that instant, it no longer mattered to me what my assignment was, I was reassured there were still people in the AF that cared about their people.  I would stay.

There’s more conversation on the phone, finally Vegas hangs up and says “Juvat, you and Mrs. Juvat are going to Kadena. You've got an Eagle!”

And it was the absolute highlight of my flying career!  Loved the Jet, the wife and I did quite a bit of touring the orient.  She had a great job and made Major BZ.  We both were sent to Army Command and Staff (after a 1 year separation.)  Little J and I went to Leavenworth, she and the new daughter came the next year.  I went to the School for Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), AKA the Jedi warriors that did so well planning the Gulf War. I was a little late for that, but got a great job at Camp Smith HI, again along with the wife.  

 

So, Vegas, I never got a chance to say thank you, Sir. Hopefully, someday on some cloud somewhere I can.  I'm very grateful.

 

Peace out, y'All!