encore Radio Silence

A young Air Force offi cer tasked with tracking aircraft and managing their fl ow during a NATO tactical evaluation successfully checks in all aircraft — except for one.

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I was a fairly new, but oh-so-confi- dent, young standardization and evalu- ation weapon systems officer with the 1st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron during the last day of the 1985 NATO tac- tical evaluation for the 10th Reconnais- sance Wing at Royal Air Force Alconbury, U.K. The standard conclusion to a tacti- cal evaluation in those days was for the Soviets to launch nukes, and so, to save the wing aircraft, we were directed to “launch for survival.” My pilot and I were designated as the

“stack commander” and were responsible for keeping track of all aircraft that would launch away from the incoming intercon- tinental ballistic missiles. The pilot and I were given the aircraft tail numbers and their associated mission numbers. The pilot’s job was to get us airborne, coordinate the airspace, and act as stack commander. My job was to track each aircraft’s takeoff time, pass the pilots their position in the stack, and manage the flow of aircraft. All went well, and as the gaggle of RF-4s left their shelters and taxied en masse to the runway, I was to get the tail number of each jet over the Command Post ultra-high frequency for all controllers and evaluators to hear. I began checking in the aircraft by reading in numerical order over the radio each associated mission number for each assigned tail number. All was going well until I said, “Mis- sion 2 TM Juliet, check?” Nothing. So

84 MILITARY OFFICER OCTOBER 2015

I repeated, “Mission 2 TM Juliet, radio check?” I again heard nothing. I knew everyone had taxied, so why was there no response? I tried one more time. But there still was silence. Then a low, un- identified voice came up frequency and slowly said, “You are Mission 2 Tango Mike Juliet.” I was just about to hit the mic switch

and broadcast one final time, when I realized my mistake and then in- advertently broadcast over the radio to the world, “Aww, shoot!” (Only I didn’t say shoot.) I was rewarded with a chorus of double-clicks from the taxi- ing aircraft’s mic switch for way too long for my now-deflated ego. Luckily for me,

the evaluators had left the command post to generate their after-action report just minutes before, so only the wing personnel (and my own squadron mates) heard my buffoonery over the radios that day.

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— Mike Sweeney is a retired Air Force lieuten- ant colonel and a Life Member of MOAA. He lives in Tennessee. For submission information, see page 6.

Tell Your Story Submit your humorous true stories (approximate- ly 450 words) of service- related experiences by email to encore@moaa .org or by mail to Encore Editor, 201 N. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314. All submissions will be considered for publication.

ILLUSTRATION: DAVID CLEGG