After a long 4 years as a FAIP wife in the T-38, I had a hard time saying goodbye to the place and jet that has encompassed our whole life. After a short break away in the middle of our PCS, I decided writing this would be the closure I needed.
My husband dropped T-38’s at Laughlin which was high on our list (unlike most) and it ended up being an amazing decision for us. Being from Texas we thought it was a no brainer, but little did we know how much we would fall in love with this remote assignment. We met some of the best friends for life there and made so many amazing memories to start his career.
Coming straight from SUPT (or another previous assignment) your husband goes to PIT (Primary Instructor Training) in San Antonio for about 6 months. He will relearn the T-38 from the backseat. This will prepare him to be a great instructor pilot. After that, he will go to his assigned training base.
A day for my husband was pretty busy as a young IP and very similar to when he was a student (but less studying). He’d wake up before the sun and our family, fly up to 3 sorties a day, pull G’s, burn up in the sun with no AC, hook a few students, do all his grade sheets, complete any other tasks he was responsible for and then hopefully make it home just in time for dinner and to say goodnight to the kids. The next day, he would do it all over again. Once a month, they do night flying which switches everyone’s whole schedule up, where they leave sometime between breakfast and lunch, and won’t get back until around midnight. If the students are in the squadron, so are the T-38 instructors. Brand new students spend 12 hours of their day there, so all of the instructors are there even longer making sure everyone is taken care of. All of the pilots had multiple responsibilities besides just flying, so they are constantly moving during the week. In our squadron there were about 40 IPs, ranging from shiny 2Lt’s to well seasoned Lt Col’s, from heavy jets, special OPS, bombers, or straight up fighters, but they are all working together to fly as much as possible and slowly become a family.
And since there aren’t many of them and they are together for 12 hours a day, naturally the wives/fiancées/girlfriends become extremely close, too. I can’t count the amount of times that we would get together for play dates, go to drops, meet at Chick-fil-a, have bible studies, or just find a reason to be at each other’s houses. We had spouse taxis, socials, pink flags, namings, crud and everything else a fighter pilot wife should know and love. Our squadron went through some pretty heartbreaking things while we were there and I know each of these women relied on the other to survive those situations. These wives were the best and I could (and still can) count on them for anything.
While our husbands were fairly busy during the weekdays, they would be home most weekends. They would go on Cross Country Flights with students or other IPs maybe once a month, but the rest of the weekends they were home with family. Also, the nice thing about AETC (Air Education Training Command) -as of now- is that he won’t be deploying. They need these instructors here teaching students and racking out the best future fighter pilots and that is the ultimate goal.
I am not sure where you are today when you are reading this and maybe got the news that you are headed to a training base soon and are scared of the future, but I promise it will be okay. This assignment was a huge blessing for us and I can only hope the same for everyone else. Many people told me that every PCS we will create more friendships and memories, but I know it will be hard to beat Laughlin in my book. We’re on to the next adventure, and we will miss you, XL. Hook ‘em all!
MEET CHELSEA
