Kid 2: Working For a Fighter

Author: Tom Perry

Another kid we had came from a long line of fighter pilots. He didn't get Fighter qualified at his FAR (Fighter, Attack, Reconnaissance) Board. This is the board we held to determine which students would be going to ‘fast movers.’ After the bad news, his formation started to click and did very well, but the list had already been sent to MPC for assignments. I went through the chain of command, eventually reaching the Wg/DO (Director of Operations). Told him we had made a mistake on this kid and asked if we could get his assignment changed. The DO said go for it. I then called some friends at MPC (Military Personnel Center) and got his assignment changed to a T33. He didn't know until assignment night, and just about crapped his flight suit when a T33 popped up on the screen. It was a good decision, as years later he flew one of the F-15s that came down the East Coast at Mach 1+ on 9/11, trying to stop the terrorist attacks.