Fighter pilots are made of different stuff…
…than you or I. Unless you happen to be a fighter pilot.
Case in point: Heather Penney, one of the fighter pilots who scrambled on 9/11. The entire interview is of interest, but it really gets going around minute 21:00.
No question that she’s brave. But what impresses me the most is her incredible composure, both in the interview and certainly when in the actual 9/11 situation (“We wouldn’t be shooting it down; we would be ramming the aircraft”). She says that she didn’t have to control her emotions, she just didn’t have any emotions, although there was “significant adrenalin” in her system. But that adrenalin was focused on action and performance, and her main prayer was that she wouldn’t screw up.
I watched the interview and was more interested in the interviewer’s (Steven Scully, I think.) attitude. I was a fighter pilot. I know what that commitment means. When you took the oath, when you got your wings, when you trained to become a professional defender of the country, there was an unspoken, but clearly understood, commitment to die or to do the unthinkable (like shooting down a passenger liner) in the act of performing your duty.
When the combat begins, there is no second thought, no turning away from that which you have sworn to do. Steven Scully seemed almost incredulous that Major Pennney had the “Right Stuff.”
I never served in the millitary with a woman aviator, but I did work with women pilots in my airline job. At first I was a bit worried about how they would perform. That didn’t last long. Those who successfully completed the training were capable of doing a the job as well as men. After hearing Major Penney’s interview, I am confident that there are many women who can not only fly, but fly in combat with the best of us.
Major Penney is committed, courageous, cool-headed, and well trained. Just like all her fellow Air Guard pilots.
She says that she didn’t have to control her emotions, she just didn’t have any emotions
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Notice, they were going to ram. ADC( that’s what it was in the dark ages) trained all of them to ram. Think 1LT G.W. Bush.
Incredible dedication and courage.
job of a soldier is actually to fulfill tactical mission objectives
Airman’s Creed
I am an American Airman.
I am a Warrior.
I have answered my nation’s call.
I am an American Airman.
My mission is to fly, fight, and win.
I am faithful to a proud heritage,
a tradition of honor,
and a legacy of valor.
I am an American Airman,
Guardian of freedom and justice,
My nation’s sword and shield,
Its sentry and avenger.
I defend my country with my life.
I am an American Airman:
Wingman, Leader, Warrior.
I will never leave an Airman behind.
I will never falter,
and I will not fail.
duty honor country
Macarthurs thayer award speech
and
The Soldier’s Creed
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Soldier%27s_Creed
The best evidence of this kind of thing, for me, explains why they went to pilots in choosing the first astronauts. It wasn’t because they needed people who knew how to fly things. They needed people who could, when all kinds of hell was breaking loose in an overgrown telephone booth hurtling through space and everything seemed like it was about to explode, could flip on their radio and almost casually announce, “Houston, we have a problem.”
I am married to a former fighter pilot now retired after 27 years of service. His last weapons system an F16. I am not surprised at Maj Penny’s unblinking dedication to mission. It’s built in to them with all of the training they endure, and deeply felt to their core. Duty, honor, country are not just words, but are lived daily. I was always amazed my husband never really thought about the danger. Sometimes, I would listen to his missions( if he recorded them) and couldn’t believe how these aviator’s could have a calm radio transmission all the while pulling g’s and making split decisions. Cool as a cucumber. Super professional. I’m glad Maj P’s story is getting out there. Maybe some of our youth will be inspired to want to do the same.
Well, they can’t blame her attitude on testosterone poisoning, patriarchal gender role infliction, or any of the other tropes.
Google up “little bitty Teresa”, “combat Barbie” “killer chick” “Misty Frazier”, Leigh Ann Hester”, “Jill Stevens” .
And figure the Kardashians are the ones everybody knows about.
When you are being trained to do some demanding job, the need to control emotions arises only in the begining. After some experience these emotions are cut off automatically, you simply do not feel them at all. In my case, there were two such jobs: vivisection and mountain climbing. It was hard to aquire the necessary indifference, but quite soon it came naturally. There is no reason why this does not apply to fighter pilots, too.
As my Dad explained to me his experience in the trenches of WWII at Svir river, where he spent 4 years under day-to-day mortar fire, he all his comrades became battle-hardened at timespan of several weeks. Completely focused on their duties and feeling no fear at all. The worst came later, after war was over and they returned to the civil life. Only then, when actual danger became a thing of the past, they began to feel this fear in nightmares, and it took several years to forget these traumatic events.
The “other pilot” was her commanding officer, Col. Marc Sasseville.
You cannot survive in that mileu without compartmentalizing. Don’t ask me whether the ability to do so is an ingrained trait, or whether it is learned. I don’t know.
I know that at times it can drive your “loved ones” crazy, because although you can turn it on, you can’t always turn it off.
Speaking of women in fighters, I had the privilege of being involved in training the first three women to transition to jets in the Navy. This was about 1975, so women have been doing this for quite a while now. One of the three clearly had the attributes of a warrior from the beginning; the second I would have expected to come through if it came to that. The third was a cypher. These women pioneered in a tough and often hostile environment, and the many who followed should be grateful.
Off topic. A true woman aviation pioneer died recently. Betty Skelton was a “stunt pilot”, and seeker of speed records, in the post WWII years. I was privileged to see her perform in her acrobatic airplane, “Lil Stinker”, several times when I was a kid. I noted with approval in her obituary, that her youthful goal was to be a Naval Aviator. She was just 25 years or so ahead of her time. RIP.
Thanks for posting this. One thing I noticed was that her attitude is similar to what I’ve in many officers and enlisted folk in the Navy, as well as in the Marines and Army.
At the end she said something to the effect of her attitude actions reflecting the American character. Whether true or not, I think our country is blessed with a high percentage of people with this devotion, the devotion she showed on that awful day.