Angels...Always Angels
A... is for Angel, A...is for Austin, our adopted son, A...is for A-4 Skyhawk
At age twelve the Lord blessed me with a vision that I would become a Navy pilot. At age twenty-six on 25 April 1980 my dreams came true as my mother pinned me with my set of Navy wings, wings that had long been mine. My winging ceremony was held at the Naval Aviation Museum located at NAS Pensacola FL. My girlfriend of two years and now my wife of thirty four years was also with me. I was in a very small class of only six pilots including myself. There was only one other Navy pilot and four Marine Corp pilots. The Navy has always trained all of the Marine Corp pilots.
Fast forward one year and I would be flying the A-4 Skyhawk based out of NAS Guantanamo Bay Cuba also called GITMO. When I arrived at the squadron I was assigned the duty as assistant operations officer and I was also the scheduling officer. I soon became qualified in all air-to-ground weapons delivery missions and also air-combat-maneuvering (ACM) flights. The most exciting and demanding mission we flew was called the Zulu-3/4 profile. As scheduling officer I made sure that I was scheduled for my share of Zulu-3/4 flights.
The Zulu-3/4 profile simulates an anti-ship surface to surface missile which has been launched and is now inbound to the ship flying at only 50’-100’ altitude. When flying this mission the pilot had no restrictions in regard to aircraft speed or altitude. To coin a phrase from the movie Top Gun, “I feel the need, the need for speed.” The pilot could fly as low as his nerves would let him and as fast as the magnificent little A-4 could go.
In April 1981 I launched on a Zulu-3/4 flight. The destroyer was only twenty miles south-southeast of the base and once I got a visual on the ship I performed a communication / authentication check so I could begin the profile. The Zulu-3 segment of the flight begins by flying out to 100 miles from the ship at an altitude of 30,000’. From this point you turned inbound and commenced the profile / attack. Once established inbound you would fly to 80 miles from the ship and descended 6,000’. Every twenty miles you close on the ship you descend another 6,000’ till you are just above the water and your speed is as fast as the A-4 can go. The purpose of this segment is to allow for the ship to calibrate and test all of its radar and weapons control systems. Your objective is to pass directly over the ship at approximately 100’.
After passing over the ship the real fun begins. While still flying on the deck you would turn north-northeast aiming for the eastern most point of the base. Once the American fence line was in sight you flew just inside it till you go feet wet over the bay. You had some terrain issues to contend with and this allowed you to fly a little nap of the earth segment still trying to maintain an altitude of 100’. Once you were feet wet over the bay you commenced a hard left hand turn making sure you didn’t overfly the hospital. To avoid having to pull 5 G’s in the turn you had to reduce your airspeed to around 450 Kts. Ideally you wanted your flight path to be right in the middle of the bay. Once you turned south your goal was to line up directly in the middle of the channel leading out to open water. As an added bonus you might have two or three opportunities to buzz the ferry that ran between the Windward and Leeward sides of the base. If the ferry was close to being in the middle of the channel, it was fair game to a low level pass, you know, targets of opportunity. About one half mile south of where the ferry made its runs is the highest point in GITMO. This hill is known as McCalla point and it marked the beginning of the Zulu-4 profile.
Just abeam McCalla point you popped up to 1,000’ to simulate the launch of the missile. At 1,000’ you would quickly roll over and descend back to 100’ for the inbound pass over the ship. Normally, due to your fuel state you could make five or six runs on the ship. On my flight in April I was able to accomplish six runs. On my first pass I set my radar altimeter to 100’, checked my power to military and ensured the throttle lock was engaged. As always you would be scanning intently to reacquire the ship. “There it is," an adjustment or two to your run in vector was usually required and altitude, altitude, you were always working to keep your altitude at 100’ above the water. My first pass wasn’t too bad but I did pass just in front of the ship at an altitude of 150’. As soon as I overflew the ship I started a hard left turn toward the northeast and began looking for the American fence line. Once the fence line was in sight I would repeat the Zulu-4 profile as many times as my fuel state would allow.
Flying so fast and so low to the water is very exciting but things happen very fast and flying in this arena takes a little while until you feel comfortable. You have very little time to notice the need for a correction and then apply it. I was pleased with my second and third run because I passed right over the ship at an altitude of 100’ to 125’ above the water. Snap me around for my forth run, Holy Cow, my forth run. Three miles out from the ship I checked my airspeed and I was indicating 615 kts which is 707 mph. Up to this point things still looked consistent with the previous pass. As fast as I was flying I closed my distance to the ship in only 15 seconds. “Oh my God, that was so close, oh my God!” I passed over the bow of the ship but at bridge level, bridge level. In a survival reaction I pitched up to about 45 degrees nose high and it seemed as if my heart jumped out of my body.
As I climbed away from the ship I continued to say aloud “Dear God thank you that was so close, thank you Lord for saving me.” At about 20,000’ it felt like my heart was back in my body and I became composed enough to roll over and descent back to the deck. As soon as I began my descent I checked my fuel and I was surprised to see that I had enough for two more runs. Rattled but never out of the mission, not with enough fuel for two more passes. You never passed up a Zulu-4 raid on the ship. As I set up for my fifth run I thought several times that I had almost literally become the missile.
Allow me to wind the clock foward twelve years. The lord blessed us with an adopted son in April 1993. The name Austin seemed to fit and we were living in Memphis, TN. Our adoption was an open adoption and we held him when he was only ten hours, ten hours old. To hold Austin when he was just a new born was a blessing from God. We knew the birth mother and had spent some time with her three months into her pregnancy. We also saw her a second time before Austin's birth. Concerning the father we only knew who he was and have only seen pictures.
Accelerating back to 707 mph again. We are now living in Greenville, SC having moved from Memphis. Our move put us closer to family and Greenville was also an easier commute to Detroit. I had recently upgraded to the B757 flying as a First Officer for Northwest Airlines. As a commuter I would lose an extra two or three days off every month traveling to Detroit making sure I made my trips. On average I was away from home about fourteen to fifteen days each month. As a result of being away from home so much I started a new father son tradition just before Austin turned six. When I put him to bed I would lie with him till he fell asleep. This was something we did every night I was home and we both looked foward to it. We would talk about things in general and then I would ask him, “Son, what was the best thing that happened to you today?” Then, I would ask him, “What was the worst thing that happened to you?” I would listen intently to his reply because a child’s eye sees things much differently than an adult. We would finish with Austin saying his nightly prayers. One night in April 2000 just after he had turned seven, he had finished telling me about his day when he paused for three or four seconds and then asked me a question that surprised me, “Daddy when you were flying in the Navy were there any flights where you almost got killed?” I said, “Oh yes, there were two or three times but the flight I remember most was a flight called the Zulu-3/4 profile.” As I told Austin about the flight I greatly simplified the specifics of the profile in general but I did tell him in detail about my forth run and that I passed so close to the ship that I almost hit it like the missile would have. Then I said, “Son I don’t know what kept me from missing the ship that day, my guardian Angel must have been flying with me and saved me.” About three seconds after I finished Austin said, “Daddy, I was the angel that saved you that day.” Of course I was filled with emotion, my eyes got teary because of the experiences I have had and I suddenly knew that our time lines had met. I then said to Austin, “Son, I'm sure what you said is true and now I know it was you that saved me that day." Then I said, “Are you ready to say a very special prayer?”
Angels…Always Angels