In the Company of Heroes

Early this year I became aware of an Air Force program called the Retired Rated Officer Recall Program (RRORP) which would return retired rated officers to active duty. It appears there is, now, a shortage of pilots and navigators due to the requirements of the War On Terror. Additionally, the vast expansion of the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) in the war has and will create huge additional requirements for rated officers to support that mission. The program is available to retired rated officers under the age of 60 with the rank of Lt Col and below. Applicants would return to active duty to fill both flying and support roles for two to four years.

In February of this year, I began the process of applying for this program. I believe in the War On Terror. It is essential that we establish stable governments in, both, Iraq and Afghanistan to preclude Al Qaeda and other extremists from using those places as breeding grounds to export terrorism throughout the world, including the USA. You may remember, Afghanistan is where Al Qaeda planned and coordinated the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11. Failure to secure those countries would result in horrific terrorist incidents equal to and greater than the events of 9/11 as well as incidents of daily terrorism like the nation of Israel endures. I have been beside myself trying to find a way that I could help in this effort. The RRORP was just what I was looking for. So, I applied.

During the application process I found myself at military installations for the first time since 9/11. My first encounter was at Buckley Air National Guard Base, CO, where I began the process of completing the required return to active duty medical. There, I found myself among otherwise regular civilians who had given up their careers and home lives to don Air Force uniforms and deploy to the Middle East.

Later in the process, I found myself at MacDill AFB, FL (CENTCOM Headquarters). While eating lunch at the food court at the Base Exchange (BX) complex, I looked around me. It was bustling like I had never before seen with dozens of military men and women from every service: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard and foreign services. All were dressed in desert camouflage and flight suits, preparing to deploy to the Middle East. All these people were leaving their families and putting their lives on the line to keep the rest of us safe, many deploying for the second, third and fourth time. While the rest of us were going on with our lives unaware, this process was going on as it does every day, 365 days a year. I was surrounded by dozens and dozens of heroes. They were humble. They were not complaining. They were busily going about the business of preparing to go to war.

Later that day, my business took me to Flight Medicine where I encountered an Air Force Sergeant. She was preparing for her THIRD deployment to the Mideast. She was very matter-of-fact. She did not complain. I got chills. I was humbled to be in her presence, the same as I was at the food court a short time earlier and at Buckley ANG Base before that. SHE was a hero and didn't even know it. I told her so. She reacted the same way all heroes do. "I'm not a hero," she said. "I'm doing what anyone else would do."

That evening, I began to think about my Air Force colleagues, the ones I had served with. They would probably think I was nuts to go back on active duty at almost 58 years of age. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. As I write this, well over 500 "retired" rated Air Force officers have returned to active duty in this program. And more apply for the program every day. I have learned that three of my classmates from the Air Force Academy Class of '75 have applied/been accepted to return to active duty. Greg Collier, US Airways Captain, has applied and is awaiting an assignment. Ben (Rini) Bosma, entrepeneur and small business owner, will be flying UAVs in Nevada. Don Lewis, my former Academy roommate, after serving 28 years on active duty, is leaving the comfort of his Texas ranch with an assignment to the 17th Air Force (Air Force component of AFRICOM) Operations Staff in Germany. I was assigned a staff position at Headquarters Air Combat Command in Virginia working Total Force Integration. I am sure there are many others of whom I am not aware.

Yesterday, I was informed I was medically disqualified for return to active duty. I will not go to my assignment at Air Combat Command Headquarters. Of course, I am sorely disappointed. But, I am honored that I have had the opportunity to know and work with heroes: My Air Force Academy classmates, Air Force colleagues and the countless military heroes, Active, Reserve and National Guard who I have had the privilege to work with and know, who gave, and continue to give, their time, sweat and lives to answer our country's call.