WEBVTT 00:00.070 --> 00:02.109 So the aha moment uh for flying 00:02.119 --> 00:05.340 airplanes was the Air Air Show , uh , 00:05.349 --> 00:07.571 when I was eight years old . So my , my 00:07.571 --> 00:09.682 grandfather actually took me up there 00:09.682 --> 00:11.793 just for a day . Um , and as an eight 00:11.793 --> 00:14.016 year old kid , you know , that was just 00:14.016 --> 00:13.909 awe inspiring in every sense of the 00:13.920 --> 00:16.087 word . Um , this was actually the same 00:16.087 --> 00:18.031 year the top gun came out like the 00:18.031 --> 00:20.198 original one . Right . So , you know , 00:20.198 --> 00:22.364 that was , that sealed the deal . Um , 00:22.364 --> 00:24.531 ever since then I , I knew I wanted to 00:24.531 --> 00:26.864 fly and then honestly , for some reason , 00:26.864 --> 00:26.819 the A 10 out of the toy airplanes I had 00:26.829 --> 00:29.107 was , uh , it was just the coolest one . 00:29.107 --> 00:31.829 Uh , and so I kind of , uh , I grew up , 00:32.069 --> 00:34.347 you know , having no idea how to do it . 00:34.347 --> 00:36.569 Um , but I knew that's what I wanted to 00:36.569 --> 00:38.680 do and I got really lucky . So , here 00:38.680 --> 00:40.680 at Moody , uh I've been in a , a 10 00:40.680 --> 00:42.958 pilot for six years , got here back in , 00:42.958 --> 00:46.290 uh 2017 . Got to do quite a few things 00:46.299 --> 00:48.355 with the airplane . I've been really 00:48.355 --> 00:50.410 lucky . So I started out in the 75th 00:50.410 --> 00:52.810 attack and got to deploy , got to 00:52.819 --> 00:55.740 deploy with them out to Kandahar . And 00:55.750 --> 00:57.917 after coming back , you know , bounced 00:57.917 --> 01:00.139 around in the wing and had a lot of fun 01:00.139 --> 01:02.306 doing that , but had been able to do a 01:02.306 --> 01:04.194 lot of instructing and flying and 01:04.194 --> 01:06.361 working with , with partner forces and 01:06.361 --> 01:08.639 all those kind of things in the A tens . 01:08.949 --> 01:10.800 So tail 01:10.809 --> 01:14.379 800140 would have been 01:15.040 --> 01:17.207 manufactured probably almost a year to 01:17.207 --> 01:20.129 the day after I was born , saw a lot 01:20.410 --> 01:24.059 14,000 , you know , 300 ish hours , uh 01:24.069 --> 01:27.879 so very unique , I guess flight out to , 01:27.889 --> 01:30.056 to Davis Moff and , and especially the 01:30.056 --> 01:32.278 last flight . So I was very fortunate . 01:32.278 --> 01:32.180 I was able to , to kind of fly on a 01:32.190 --> 01:34.790 local story out there , um , back to 01:35.050 --> 01:36.994 the areas where , you know , I had 01:36.994 --> 01:39.050 trained and , and flown as a bulldog 01:39.050 --> 01:41.272 and , uh , and it's the first time I've 01:41.272 --> 01:43.050 flown out there in , you know , 01:43.050 --> 01:45.161 probably 12 to 13 years . So I got to 01:45.169 --> 01:47.391 revisit some of those places myself and 01:47.391 --> 01:49.558 I thought that was fitting to take the 01:49.558 --> 01:51.613 jet as well one last time out to the 01:51.613 --> 01:53.780 old stopping grounds if you will . And 01:53.780 --> 01:56.002 it kind of hit me harder than I thought 01:56.002 --> 01:55.839 it would when I pulled into the bone 01:55.849 --> 01:58.016 yard and shut the engines down for the 01:58.016 --> 02:01.239 last time . That was the last time and 02:01.250 --> 02:03.290 knowing , you know , that that was 02:03.300 --> 02:05.910 going to be my second to last flight as 02:05.919 --> 02:08.029 well . Um , hit me hard . I'm sure 02:08.039 --> 02:10.261 it'll hit me equally hard when I , when 02:10.261 --> 02:12.261 I shut the engines down , uh , here 02:12.261 --> 02:14.570 after the flight . But , um , yeah , 02:14.580 --> 02:16.691 that was , uh , that was a big deal . 02:18.100 --> 02:20.322 Gosh . So what does it mean to , to end 02:20.322 --> 02:22.267 my career as a flying tiger ? Um , 02:22.267 --> 02:26.210 first , thank you to the pilots , to 02:26.220 --> 02:29.619 the maintainers who do day in and day 02:29.630 --> 02:32.169 out . Uh , a whole lot of work to keep 02:32.179 --> 02:34.346 the airplanes flying and to keep us in 02:34.346 --> 02:36.512 the air to moody and everybody on this 02:36.512 --> 02:38.679 base . It's an incredible team . We've 02:38.679 --> 02:40.735 been really lucky to be a part of it 02:40.735 --> 02:42.735 for a long time . Uh , I definitely 02:42.735 --> 02:44.957 can't say goodbye to , uh , to the A 10 02:44.957 --> 02:47.899 or the fighter group without a one last 02:48.160 --> 02:51.639 attack . Thunder . Kill how ? 03:00.300 --> 03:00.339 Mhm .