Six years prior, when I had completed F-4 training in the RAG, my transfer to my fighter squadron, VF-151, had only involved my walking 100 yards from one aircraft hanger to the next at NAS Miramar, to assume my new duty.

This time, instead of only a short walk, my transfer took me halfway around the world. It involved a commercial flight from San Diego to LAX, then a transfer to a long red-eye, middle-seat ride in a stretch DC-8 to Clark AFB in the Philippines, with a 3 hour midnight refueling stop en-route. Awake for well over 24 hours and not even knowing what day it was with a Dateline crossing, my partner and I were still fascinated with our older Philippine driver.

He drove us from Clark AFB to NAS Cubi Pt. where the USS Enterprise with VF-1 embarked, were docked at the time. Along the way, our driver pointed out all of the places where his family and friends had hidden WW-II U.S. personnel from the Japanese; where WW-II battles and fire-fights had occurred, and where many had died. His commentary was fascinating, and it certainly arrested any complaints we may have had about our own lack of sleep, and our long journey from San Diego!

Some Disappointment

At the time, one would think that I had reached the epitome for a Navy fighter pilot: Given a new and "eye-watering" air superiority fighter aircraft to fly; a most prestigious new fighter squadron re-commissioned specifically for the arrival of the then-new, "air-superiority" F-14; and an elite squadron cadre of the Navy's "best and brightest" of the time, as squadron mates. Incredibly, I was now with VF-1 onboard the USS Enterprise for the second ever carrier deployment of the F-14 Tomcat - which should have been the best fighter-pilot flying in the world. Unfortunately, there was disappointment ahead.

• A peacetime Navy is far different than a wartime Navy
• The rules and especially priorities had changed.
• Tactical maneuvers were less important than tactical "politics".
• Long cruises away from home while exciting for a bachelor, can be very difficult with a new family.
• A peacetime defense budget severely reduces the amount of flight time available.
• Bureaucracy tends to overwhelm action; form supersedes results.
• Important lessons learned can be quickly forgotten.
• The former challenge and thrill were gone.
• Old adversaries make for difficult new bosses

F-14 Growing Pains

As with any new technology and equipment, our new F-14's - on only their second operational cruise - had some growing pains. The monsoonal rains of the Philippines quickly brought one new problem to light. Rainwater pooled in certain parts of the parked aircraft, frying some electronics. The solution for this $40 million per copy aircraft was simply to drill some weep holes on the underside of the aircraft. This mostly solved the water problem, but caused another that took some time to discover.

Our jet engines were frequently becoming damaged by what is called, FOD (Foreign Object Damage). The source of this FOD was not immediately known. Eventually we realized that the weep holes drilled on the underside of the aircraft also allowed, along with rainwater, the blind rivet-heads inside the aircraft to now escape their containment. These little rivet heads then fell to the deck where they were quickly sucked into the TF-30 engines, severely damaging the turbine blades. So in addition to a limited budget for fuel, and fried electronics, we often had a limited number of F-14's to fly while their engines were being repaired.

The F-14 was a much needed, quantum jump in capability over the F-4. Nevertheless, the F-4 remains even today as my favorite aircraft to fly (with maybe the A-4 second. The F-18 could have been, but I only logged 1 hour of flight time in it.) Although I had equal flight time in both aircraft, I never became as totally comfortable, or as proficient in the F-14 as I did in the F-4. The pleasure of flying the F-4 was its instant responsiveness from its turbo-jet engine instead of the early-model-F-14's sluggish fan engine, the F-4's greater roll rate at slower airspeeds, and the F-4's rock solid stability in the landing configuration . . . unlike the spoiler and horizontal stabilizers flapping, "Turkey" F-14. But most likely my lasting affinity for the F-4 was a result of being bonded together, man & machine in harm's way so many times, and returning unscathed.

Two Cruises

Relative to the two prior, wartime cruises aboard the USS Midway, my two 7-month cruises with VF-1 aboard the USS Enterprise were mostly nondescript. Our limited flying became routine, and even sometimes monotonous. This was only occasionally punctuated with exercises involving ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) with foreign air forces, but they were too few. Because I did not receive F-14 ACM training in the RAG [training eliminated because of a temporary F-14A G limitation] – and its tactics were far different than other aircraft I had flown – it took me some time to become comfortable, and even longer to become proficient in the F-14 ACM arena.

With less at-sea time, we now spent more time in more varied ports. Since we were the first US Navy ship to visit Hobart, Tasmania since WWII, the whole city gave us a resounding and memorable welcome. A port call to Mombassa, Kenya during a rainy period, precluded a hoped-for safari. Instead, four of us went up the coast to the European resort of Malindi. My wife was able to find a long-term baby sitter, and along with a squadron wives group, she met me in Hong Kong for a week's visit. We then traveled to Manila on leave, before I returned to the ship in Subic Bay.

In the turnaround between the two cruises, our daughter was born while I was away on a highly classified and inflexible detachment. I participated in two specially classified detachments during this period. These were exciting experiences. But they compounded my time away from home, as did attending Safety School at the Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey. [While there, I met and became friends with an East coast F-4 pilot, Chic Burlingame. Years later he would become one of two pilots I knew personally, flying aircraft involved in 9-11.]

After the first cruise, I decided to leave the Navy and pursue an airline career. However, because of an apparent, post-training commitment, I was told that was not possible. Because of training received, I needed to serve another year and another cruise. So I did. Then I left.