Robert M. Gary wrote:

Being the CO's son I got to spent a lot of time sitting in the squadron
room and road out the Kitty Hawk on a few Tiger cruises. Fighter pilots
today are probably more bookish than in years past. Less seat of the
paints flying. I don't get the impression that Vietnam era was quite
that way.

-Robert

During my last couple of years of flying I was IP for the IP course at
Fighter-Lead-In at Holloman. I recalled one afternoon when I pulled
Sqdn duty officer until closing. After last launches, I went down and
sat at the bar in the sqdn lounge. Sipped on a beer and shortly five
guys in flight suits came in and sat down in easy chairs and sofa
behind me. I listened for maybe twenty minutes, then turned and said,
"Who are you guys?"

"We're in the new IP class. We finished academics and thought we'd come
over and see what the flying squadron looked like."

"Impossible," I said. "IP students are all fighter pilots with minimum
four years in fighters and qualified four-ship flight leads. I've
listened to you guys talking about investments, annuities and
debentures for the last twenty minutes without a single comment on the
basics of fighter pilot discussion--i.e. flying, fighting and
fornicating. You can't be the new class..."

Unfortunately they were. And that is representative of the modern
breed.