Refueling

One of the good things about getting to fly a multi-role fighter is that we get to do something different every day. Last weekend I led a flight in which we fought against other fighters on our way to a target complex, dropped a combination of ‘dumb’ bombs from a dive from 25,000 feet and Laser Guided Bombs, and then fought our way out. Today we refueled in-flight from a KC-135, and then worked some 2v1 air combat maneuvers. It beats having a real job!

On the tanker were members of a Phoenix vocational school’s Junior ROTC corps. These would be high school kids, trying to learn about their possibilities after graduation, while learning about the military and its structure. Today they were learning about the Air Force and its mission, apparently.

As I took on fuel and could see the kids taking photos and waving, I waved back, reminiscing about my own time in JROTC. I was a member of my high school’s JROTC program in order to learn what I could while applying to the USAF Academy. I did get into the Academy, and there did well enough to fulfill a life-long dream of flying. These kids are looking into their future to figure out how to fulfill their own dreams. Kinda brings a new perspective to life, eh?

Now, 15 years later … 15 years??!!!?? Can’t be. Yup, it is. Now I feel old.

Brian