WEBVTT 00:00.798 --> 00:03.030 ^- Lethbridge was the first air show I went to 00:03.030 --> 00:04.322 ^when I was a kid. 00:04.322 --> 00:05.717 ^I was six or seven years old. 00:05.717 --> 00:07.384 ^- Everything he did, 00:07.464 --> 00:11.464 ^everything he talked about was always airplanes. 00:12.143 --> 00:16.143 ^- So that just was always part of our life, just 00:16.359 --> 00:17.192 ^airplanes. 00:17.746 --> 00:20.871 And so when the Lethbridge Air Show comes along, 00:20.871 --> 00:24.080 it was just a natural thing to load the family up, 00:24.080 --> 00:25.910 take them to the air show. 00:25.910 --> 00:27.243 - We saw the airplanes, 00:27.243 --> 00:28.526 and there wasn't a single airplane there 00:28.526 --> 00:30.783 that made more of an impression on me than the C-5 did. 00:30.783 --> 00:33.727 - I saw the magnitude of that airplane, 00:33.727 --> 00:36.129 and I think at that age, it stayed with him. 00:36.129 --> 00:39.379 - He wanted to be a C-5 pilot at that time. 00:39.379 --> 00:41.823 - And I just remember the whole room going crazy. 00:41.823 --> 00:45.926 - We were so excited because that was what he wanted. 00:45.926 --> 00:47.312 You don't always get what you want, 00:47.312 --> 00:49.505 you know that, in the Air Force. 00:49.505 --> 00:52.836 - He flew the C-5 for four or five years. 00:52.836 --> 00:56.003 He was an aircraft commander of a C-5. 00:56.337 --> 01:00.337 I know he made at least 12 trips to Afghanistan. 01:00.732 --> 01:02.642 - Ironically when I was a C-5 pilot, 01:02.642 --> 01:05.892 we actually took an RPA MQ-9 downrange, 01:06.258 --> 01:08.252 and now I'm flying it, so it's real interesting 01:08.252 --> 01:10.449 to see how everything's gone full circle. 01:10.449 --> 01:14.095 Coming back and standing out in front of a C-5, 01:14.095 --> 01:16.510 with my mom and dad, especially with my dad 01:16.510 --> 01:17.897 who took me there for the first time 01:17.897 --> 01:19.688 when I was seven years old, 01:19.688 --> 01:22.372 and seeing that's where it all began. 01:22.372 --> 01:24.083 That was the best part about it, 01:24.083 --> 01:26.275 because it brought back all those memories 01:26.275 --> 01:27.774 that I experienced when I was a kid, 01:27.774 --> 01:30.257 and I knew I wanted to be a pilot at that point, 01:30.257 --> 01:34.324 and being able to look back and say that I did it, 01:34.324 --> 01:38.491 and I accomplished exactly what I wanted to do 30 years ago. 01:38.920 --> 01:41.647 That was the best part and the most meaningful part. 01:41.647 --> 01:45.314 - And I think he's really enjoyed being here 01:46.047 --> 01:47.630 at Creech Air Base. 01:48.632 --> 01:52.382 In my opinion, they're getting to be probably 01:52.580 --> 01:53.497 the future. 01:54.159 --> 01:55.381 - I think it's pretty cool. 01:55.381 --> 01:57.214 I think it's exciting. 01:57.506 --> 01:59.695 He doesn't share a lot, but 01:59.695 --> 02:01.975 I think it's an exciting assignment. 02:01.975 --> 02:05.066 - And so to be able to fly in RPAs is really incredible, 02:05.066 --> 02:09.233 to be able to actively exercise your privileges as a pilot, 02:09.849 --> 02:14.016 but using technology that's never really been used before 02:14.289 --> 02:15.349 in a whole new theater. 02:15.349 --> 02:17.792 It's pretty amazing and I love doing it. 02:17.792 --> 02:19.875 Absolutely love doing it.