I'm tellin' ya, this sounds FOR REAL just like a lot of retired former 1811s I used to work with who just can't let go of it and keep thinking they're still who they were 15 or 20 years ago - or who they were when they retired from the agency; it's pretty tough for them to realize their handle now begins with "Mr." like everyone else's, not "Special Agent" or "Captain" or whatever . . . forgetting they're RETIRED and the agency will continue to function without them somehow. This cartoon was made in jest and has a lot of good laughs in it; the pathetic part of it is that there are some folks in my former profession, with an "I love me" wall, who are EXACTLY as the digital character portrayed in the cartoon.
Please accept this post not as a rebuttal, but as a apologetic post, in the conotation of the word that means,'one who speaks in defence of'. While everything stated is accurate, it is a two deminional POV without empathy. I can speak from experience when I say, it is hard to go from "Captain", "Major", or "Special Agent" to "Mr.".
In the case of the former fighter pilot, he or she has given a lot to have earned the designation, "Fighter Pilot." A military pilot is not unlike a professional athlete. Both have God given talents and skills that enable them to perform at a high level of expertise. Both, however, achieve that level of expertise through hard work and practice. Both have to believe they are the "best" in order to achieve. This is where the comparison ends, however.
If the athlete drops the ball or strikes out, he will usually have another chance. If the fighter pilot makes a mistake, it can cost him his life. A fighter pilot lives on the edge when flying. This is especially true in combat where you are often on the very edge of the aircraft's flight envelope. Pull too hard and you can find the aircraft stalling and departing on you.
I have flown at over 500 mph at 100 feet off the top of the trees or waves. At that speed and low altitude, you can die in less time than it takes to blink. Landing and taking off in weather that would ground any other plane, is expected of the military pilot. It can lead to you becoming cocky or even arrogant.
He is told from the day he enters pilot training that he is the best and exceptional. He better believe it, His life may depend on believing that some day to survive. So, he is proud of what he does and what he is. He misses it when he leaves. He misses the camaraderie. He misses the trill of flying. He misses the sounds, the smells, even the Gs. After all these years, I am in the cockpit of a fighter demo at airshows. I know what he is doing, I can feel the Gs and see the ground rotating or falling away. I am transported back thirty years.
I have pictures on my wall of me flying, standing on or near the aircraft. I call them my "hero" pictures. They remind me that when my country called, I answered the call. I didn't run to Canada. I am proud of what I did. I can talk you to death, if you get me started on "what was it was like".
The video was funny. It was true in many ways for many former pilots, athletes, and others who were the best at what they did. It also was a stereotype caricature of a profession that in 50 years, I believe will be no more.
I will end this apology by thanking and praising all of the maintenance, ordnance, re-fueler, egress, and others who often spent all night getting the aircraft ready to fly the next morning. We may have been the tip of the spear, but without you the spear would have never flown. You too are the "Best".
