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My favorite type of sortie is flying daytime low-level terrainmapping
missions in formation with other aircraft.
A “sortie,” as defined by the Encarta
dictionary, is “an attack on an enemy or an
aircraft mission.” It can also refer to a person
who is on a sortie.
5. Please describe a typical day at work. What I like best about
being a military pilot is that there is no typical day at work.
It could involve administrative office work on the ground,
studying, flying locally for training, working out physically, flying
real-world (non-training) missions, or a combination of those.
However, generally speaking, on days that flying is scheduled,
pilots arrive at the squadron a few hours ahead of take-off time to
read up on any updates regarding the plane or things that could
have an impact on the sortie. Then a series of briefings are held
that spell out what the mission is about and what is to be
expected from each flying member. This minimizes any
surprises. If the sortie is to involve flying in unfriendly territory,
then those briefings will include intelligence updates about the
situation.
The pilot then "steps to the jet" and accomplishes the mission.
Afterwards, a debriefing is held amongst all the participating
flying members and the sortie is discussed in order to improve
each other and future performance. Questions such as, "How did
it go," “Why did you do that?,” “What were you thinking?” and,
"What could have been done better?" are asked.
6. What made you decide to be an ANG pilot? I felt that it
was a career choice that made a difference. Also, there was a
personal intense fun factor and adrenaline rush that my then
current career, accounting, did not possess. No surprise there,
huh.
7. Where was your first job? Well, my first real job was as a life
guard when I was 15. But my first job out of college was as an
accountant for a big auditing firm. I was stuck in an office and
really disliked it. It's worth noting that one can serve part-time in
the National Guard or Reserves and still hold a full-time job
doing something entirely different. That was the route I took. I
have a full-time job as a sales manager with a regular company,
but I participate in the Air National Guard on the side. Juggling
priorities and time between the two can be extremely difficult, so
it's important that the full-time regular non-military job have a
good bit of understanding and flexibility built into it.
this interview. As I look back on my 25-year career thus far in the
military, I think my memory highlights are the two deployments
that I performed during our nation's operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, which occurred during early parts of those
campaigns. Very austere living and so much of the daily work
was making it up as we went. The only constant was change and
the flying was, well, hot...on a couple of levels.
A note from Lydia: This a cool story that he told me. Once he was
landing out in the Azores and so while they were waiting on the
plane they got see a bull chase/fight. He said it was so cool.
9. What is the best thing about this job? It's different for every
military pilot. Some like the flying, some like the mission of
protecting and defending our nation, and some like the lifestyle
and follow-on opportunities it may bring . . . such as becoming an
airline pilot. For me, all of those are important, but I also like the
immense responsibility that comes with being handed the keys to
a jet, weapons, and crew at a very young age. It is a serious career
that requires a sharp mind, fit body, and demands effective
leadership, so maturity is a pre-requisite and develops very quickly
in this environment.
10. Do you have to like certain things in order to do this
occupation? You have to like altitudes and going fast. You also
have to like—or at least be willing—to not get into a routine and
being flexible with being away from home.
Also, it's awfully important that pilots stay physically fit, eat
healthily, and stay academically keen on all the systems of the
plane, procedures of flying, and enemy tactics and
capabilities. The effects of aerospace operations on the mind and
physical body are significant. Oxygen pressures, G-forces,
speeds, sensory cues and depravations affected by darkness,
weather, fatigue, in-flight emergencies, and the inherent stresses
of real-world missions, all help to make the pilot's sortie more
difficult. And I haven't even mentioned the real prospect of
having an enemy trying to shoot you down and what could
subsequently happen if they were successful.
11. Have you ever earned any awards? Military flying generates
opportunities and experiences that are broad, exciting and
frequently challenging, even difficult. Given enough years in this
business, all pilots will be decorated with numerous awards and
citations simply by the nature of what they do. Yes, I have
received many awards. I've even earned a few. Some of them are
recognitions for unit excellence, or participating in various
campaigns, or having achieved some qualification. But the ones
that I respect the most are the ones that are earned for true and
unique action. I have two in particular that were awarded to me
for specific flying things in what we call "the desert."
A special thanks to Lt. Col. MacDougall for his
brave service to our country.
8. Have you had any interesting things happen to you while
working in this job? Many. Actually, too many to recount in
Volume 3, Issue 3