Solo at Last!

You know I was talking to my Dad after having solo'd the Mighty Viper (F-16C) and he reminded me that it has been a long time coming. Some of you might know this story, but I felt like sharing it anyway. It started with a great friend of our family, Ralph Williams. Ralph had a Cessna 172 and he offered to take my Mom and I on a ride. Well, I was hooked! From then on I would dream about flying and getting my pilot's license. Fate, again stepped in while I was a Junior in High School. During one of our career days, an AF recruiter showed up, and so I thought I would see what the Air Force had to offer. It was pretty simple. The recruiter asked me a few questions? "Do you want to go to college?" and "Do you want to be a fighter pilot?" Uhhh.....yeah! So the adventure started.

I applied for and recieved and AF scholarhip, attended College and participated in AFROTC. There I competed against my peers for a pilot slot and was lucky enough to recieve one. After commissioning as a Second Lieutenant I attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB, in Del Rio, TX. With the help of my wife, I completed Pilot Training and was selected to be a First Assignment Instructor Pilot (FAIP) in the T-6 Texan II. Although it wasn't my dream of being an F-16 fighter pilot, it was a welcomed experience and a rewarding one at that. Following my three year assignment as a FAIP, a deployment to Kyrgyzstan, and axiously stressing my assignment drop, it was all rewarded with the news that I would get my chance at becoming a USAF F-16 pilot and would be continuing my training at Kelly AFB, TX in San Antonio.

However, one more delay was in store for me. The first week of training for F-16's I experienced a crazy phenomenon where I would see double. Not very good for a pilot. And although the issue only lasted 8 days, it took 8 months of labs, MRIs, and many other specialist visits and recommendations to convince the Air Force that I was still able to continue as a pilot.

So now, after about 18 years from my first flight in that Cessna with Ralph, I am finally here, training to be an F-16 pilot, on my way to becoming a Fighter Pilot, and let me tell you, there is no other place I would rather be than in my single seat fighter jet, hair on fire, screamin for the stars!