From the Pages

Excerpts

Three passages from the book — a 1990 four-ship cleared to engage over Germany, the squadron tradition that turns mistakes into callsigns, and the ninety-six-hour grind of a NATO TAC EVAL.

Plate 01Brahma Flight · September 22, 1990
Chapter 1pp. 9–114 min

"Clear to Engage"

On September 22, 1990, Brahma Flight, a flight of four F-16s from the 10th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), launched from Hahn Air Base, Germany on a simulated bombing mission aimed at a "target" south of Stuttgart.

KC Schow was flight lead for the four-ship, with Ed "Julio" Houle, Dave "McGoo" Sandlin, and JD Williams flying as his wingmen. Julio, the 10th TFS squadron commander, was giving KC his initial flight instructor check ride. I was strapped into the back seat of Julio's jet, riding along for the mission.

TRAINING · COLD WAR
Plate 02Tactical Callsigns · The Real Names of War
Chapter 5pp. 62–665 min

"R.B. Double-A Bravo"

One of the most sacred. . .and most humiliating. . .traditions in fighter pilot culture is the naming ceremony.

Nobody picks their own call sign. It's not a gamer tag, a pilot's license alias, or something cool you write on a helmet. It's earned the hard way. . .through mistake, misfortune, or something stupid you said in a mission brief.

NAMING · TRADITION
Plate 03Hahn AB · NATO TAC EVAL
Chapter 15pp. 133–1344 min

"NATO TAC EVALs and Rubber Suits"

THEY TOLD US it wasn't a test.

"Not a test, it's an evaluation," the wing commander would say in the weeks leading up to the NATO TAC EVAL. We all nodded, but we knew better. This was the peacetime Super Bowl of readiness: a no-excuses, all-eyes-on-you, ninety six-hour circus where the performance of the entire wing, and the credibility of our squadron, would be measured down to the last oxygen bottle and mop bucket.

TAC EVAL · NBC