smile. His last name is Davidson, and he is a first Lieutenant.
“Oh, okay. Sure… sir.” I nod.
“No sir, in the club Romero, please. Call me Jeff.”
“Okay Jeff, then you have to call me Stephanie, or Steph.”
“Well, it boggles all of our minds how young you are Steph. You seem to be a fine pilot too. Just try not to let anything get to you, okay. Just go with the plan.” He sighs.
I know he means what we will have to do, and not to let it bother me.
“You’ve been here before, I take it.”
“One tour. It’s a long year here Steph. Hope you have some hobbies.”
“Hey, can I get model kits here Jeff?”
“What, like plastic model kits?”
“Yeah, aircraft! I love building model aircraft.”
“I used to love that too, when I was younger. I had even built a mammoth B fifty two in one forty fifth scale. It was really neat in that you could open the top, and see all the accurate inside details.”
“Where can I get some kits?”
“The base PX might have some, heck I want to build one now too. Let’s go look in the morning okay?”
“You’re on Jeff. I hope they have putty and paint if they have kits.”
“You are really into it huh Steph?”
I giggle like a kid.
After breakfast Jeff walks me over to the PX, and sure enough they have a pretty good selection of kits. Most are of Air Force jets, and I pick out a detailed, expensive kit of a Raptor in one thirty second scale. Jeff gets a one forty fifth scale F fifteen Eagle kit. I get my putty and paints I’ll need, and we sign the pay deduction vouchers with the cashier. This should keep me occupied on stand down days. We head back to the rec room to eagerly get started on our kits.
As we pour over the molded parts the other pilots in the lounge all come to see, and they also check out the kits with interest. It is lunch time by the time I get my first step pieces painted, dry, and glued together. Jeff goes with me to eat, and Captain Hanford joins us. Everyone seems to get along really well, and that sure makes me feel at home.
“Are you getting settled in again, Captain?” Jeff asks her.
“Unfortunately, yes. It’s just like we left it last time, SNAFU.”
“Rodger that sir.” He chuckles.
“Captain Hanford, were you with the squadron back in Desert Storm?”
“No, I was assigned a few years after that.”
“So is the Colonel the only one who was with the squadron then?”
“Major Hoyt was with him then. He was his wing man.”
“Okay.” I figure to ask him if I can’t get the Colonel to the club for a drink. I am Major Hoyt’s wingman after all, he’ll tell me. I know he likes how I listen to his instructions, as he has told me so.
Just then the Major asks to join us.
“Speak of the devil…sir.” Captain Hanford says with a smile.
“That’s right Shirley, I am the Devil. Don’t forget it.” He sits down.
“We were just talking about you Eric.” She grins.
“I know. The Devil knows all things.” He sighs with an unaffected manner. “I also know it was bad. It’s always bad. No respect… the Devil gets no respect.”
“Major, were you there when the Colonel shot down those two Fulcrums?” I have to know about this.
“Yes, he actually saved my life that day.” He looks at me with his cool, calm brown eyes unblinking.
“What happened?”
“Well, I’ll tell you some, but you’ll have to get the rest from the Colonel, it’s his story. Anyway we were on Mig CAP over Bagdad on the opening day of the air campaign. Two Fulcrums made a pure vertical takeoff to intercept us at thirty thousand. The SEAD mission just before we arrived on station had knocked out all the SAM sites around the city, so they scrambled fighters after us. We didn’t see them, and neither did our AWACS controller until they were behind us at twenty thousand.”
“What did you do?”
“Well the Colonel had the other two flights with us disengage, as he broke
“Oh, okay. Sure… sir.” I nod.
“No sir, in the club Romero, please. Call me Jeff.”
“Okay Jeff, then you have to call me Stephanie, or Steph.”
“Well, it boggles all of our minds how young you are Steph. You seem to be a fine pilot too. Just try not to let anything get to you, okay. Just go with the plan.” He sighs.
I know he means what we will have to do, and not to let it bother me.
“You’ve been here before, I take it.”
“One tour. It’s a long year here Steph. Hope you have some hobbies.”
“Hey, can I get model kits here Jeff?”
“What, like plastic model kits?”
“Yeah, aircraft! I love building model aircraft.”
“I used to love that too, when I was younger. I had even built a mammoth B fifty two in one forty fifth scale. It was really neat in that you could open the top, and see all the accurate inside details.”
“Where can I get some kits?”
“The base PX might have some, heck I want to build one now too. Let’s go look in the morning okay?”
“You’re on Jeff. I hope they have putty and paint if they have kits.”
“You are really into it huh Steph?”
I giggle like a kid.
After breakfast Jeff walks me over to the PX, and sure enough they have a pretty good selection of kits. Most are of Air Force jets, and I pick out a detailed, expensive kit of a Raptor in one thirty second scale. Jeff gets a one forty fifth scale F fifteen Eagle kit. I get my putty and paints I’ll need, and we sign the pay deduction vouchers with the cashier. This should keep me occupied on stand down days. We head back to the rec room to eagerly get started on our kits.
As we pour over the molded parts the other pilots in the lounge all come to see, and they also check out the kits with interest. It is lunch time by the time I get my first step pieces painted, dry, and glued together. Jeff goes with me to eat, and Captain Hanford joins us. Everyone seems to get along really well, and that sure makes me feel at home.
“Are you getting settled in again, Captain?” Jeff asks her.
“Unfortunately, yes. It’s just like we left it last time, SNAFU.”
“Rodger that sir.” He chuckles.
“Captain Hanford, were you with the squadron back in Desert Storm?”
“No, I was assigned a few years after that.”
“So is the Colonel the only one who was with the squadron then?”
“Major Hoyt was with him then. He was his wing man.”
“Okay.” I figure to ask him if I can’t get the Colonel to the club for a drink. I am Major Hoyt’s wingman after all, he’ll tell me. I know he likes how I listen to his instructions, as he has told me so.
Just then the Major asks to join us.
“Speak of the devil…sir.” Captain Hanford says with a smile.
“That’s right Shirley, I am the Devil. Don’t forget it.” He sits down.
“We were just talking about you Eric.” She grins.
“I know. The Devil knows all things.” He sighs with an unaffected manner. “I also know it was bad. It’s always bad. No respect… the Devil gets no respect.”
“Major, were you there when the Colonel shot down those two Fulcrums?” I have to know about this.
“Yes, he actually saved my life that day.” He looks at me with his cool, calm brown eyes unblinking.
“What happened?”
“Well, I’ll tell you some, but you’ll have to get the rest from the Colonel, it’s his story. Anyway we were on Mig CAP over Bagdad on the opening day of the air campaign. Two Fulcrums made a pure vertical takeoff to intercept us at thirty thousand. The SEAD mission just before we arrived on station had knocked out all the SAM sites around the city, so they scrambled fighters after us. We didn’t see them, and neither did our AWACS controller until they were behind us at twenty thousand.”
“What did you do?”
“Well the Colonel had the other two flights with us disengage, as he broke
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