Retired Air Force fighter pilot Jay Waitte recalls his Survival Escape Resistance and Evasion (SERE) training experiences at the Air Force Academy. During the summer of 1969, after my freshman year at the Air Force Academy, … Read More
Panama Deployment This Memorial Day, retired Air Force fighter pilot Jay Waitte honors the local Union Army soldiers who died to preserve that Union. Union officer with 26th Regimental flag. Captain Jedediah Randall Next to Broadway … Read More
Panama Deployment Retired Air Force fighter pilot Jay Waitte recalls his experiences during the U.S. confrontation with Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Two of Our Guys Are Missing I was deployed to Panama in 1989 as a … Read More
Happy Mother’s Day! Female soldier with daughter drawing with watercolor paint The draft ended in 1973, at which time only 2 percent of enlisted forces were women. Today women make up 16 percent of active-duty members, … Read More
Predator Drones and A Self-Destruct Mechanism A retired Air Force fighter pilot recalls an aerial “drone” that landed in Iran and explains why aircraft never have a “self-destruct” mechanism. One of my son’s good friends in … Read More
Willa Beatrice Brown A retired Air Force fighter pilot celebrates aviation pioneer Willa Beatrice Brown. It all began in the early 1930s. Willa Beatrice Brown took her first flight as a new hobby when she was … Read More
Meet Jacqueline Cochran, America’s “Speed Queen” A retired Air Force fighter pilot details how Jackie Cochran, a woman of firsts, rose from second-grade dropout to international fame as an aviation pioneer. At the tender but tough … Read More
Meet The Avenger Girls World War II made “Rosie the Riveter” famous. But have you ever heard of the “Avenger Girls?” In 2012, Betty Wall Strohfus holds a picture of herself when she was a WASP … Read More
Retired Air Force fighter pilot Jay Waitte explains the American Air Force’s unofficial – but very real – military doctrine. When I would fly in Europe, the British pilots were crazy. They would try to hit … Read More
Retired Air Force fighter pilot Jay Waitte honors the many Black soldiers who volunteered and fought for the Union…and for their freedom. Black Americans have bravely fought for this country since this country began. Some 5,000 … Read More