On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:09:59 -0600, Ed Rasimus wrote:

On 09 Jun 2004 15:41:45 GMT, (OXMORON1) wrote:

Ed wrote:
Reread the last sentence of my post slowly. Savor the nuance. You met
a few pilots assigned to fly fighters.

But Ed, they all claimed to be "fighter pilots". That is the trouble, "everyone
wants to be a fighter pilot" not all who make the claim are fighter pilots.
Thus my claim that some "fighter pilots" are "pukes".
You have to watch your step in a stag bar with a bunch of people who "look"
like "fighter pilots" Hell there might even be a WSO in the crowd!

Oxmoron1

The WSO might even be a "Fighter-gator" or, worse yet, a "Bear".

I used to tell the new guys in my squadron that they flew fighters.
They would be a "Fighter Pilot" when someone else told them they were.
Until then, they were authorized to say they "fly fighters."

You can always tell a fighter pilot....but you can't tell him much.

Cheers, and check six.

Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8

With all due respect, fighter pilots are no more special than any other
Serviceman. The OOD of a nuclear submarine has far more responsibility
than some guy flying around. Being a "fighter pilot" is no more (or less)
deserving of respect than a grunt Company Commander, a tanker pilot.
or a Surface Warfare OOD.

The self appointed "gods" that fighter types make of themselves only
serves to demean all Servicemen, including themselves.

Al Minyard