F-18 Pilot and the Road Not Traveled

I try very hard not to have too many regrets in my life, but I have to be honest, I have a continually nagging one that I'm sure will haunt me to my grave. 

Growing up I had all the plans in the world to be a US Naval Aviator.  I grew up NAVAIR, I speak NAVAIR, I even on occasion think NAVAIR!  I still have a number of friends in NAVAIR!  I won't go into all of the details of my letter of notification where, 1 month prior to my report date to NAS Pensacola and Air Office Candidate School, I was informed that my slot along with a number of other applicants had been rescinded due to congressional budget cuts. 

The resulting loss of direction in my life took some time to recover from.  My Naval Aviation Career, dreamed about as a boy and worked hard for as a college student, became my "Road Not Traveled."  Do I hold the Navy in contempt?  No.  Life is what it is, and to deny my continuing love and passion for NAVAIR would be living a lie.  My regret lies in not being able to serve this country of mine in the way I had envisioned, and more so... because I will not have the opportunity to truly experience the satisfaction of a mission accomplished, a sucessful night trap at the end of a long flight, or the sheer mirth of "Dancing the skies on Laughter-Silvered Wings."  Truth be told I have the utmost respect for all who wear Wings of Gold!  I know what they did to earn them.

Today I came across a video that captures precisely why I ever wanted to be a Naval Aviator!  Hell after viewing this I think it is hard not to want to be a naval aviator!  A few weeks ago Neptunus Lex published a video from his blog about the fun and spirit Naval Aviators have in an effort to share an Esprit de Corps, that video was fun!  This video I share with you today is an excellent example of the professional Naval Aviator fighter-attack pilot, in his office, doing what he loves and what he gets paid to do! Hell this could even be Neptunus Lex (He is/was a "Bug" driver!) ENJOY the RIDE!And turn the volume up!

Special thanks to Big-boys.com and Grouchymedia.com for the video