, as they had briefed it… and would not say a word about it, ever.
At 100 miles out, he keyed the mike and checked in with Strike control for vectors to the KC-10, the first words he had spoken in the two hours since he had manned the jet on the flight deck. The tanker was orbiting southeast of him at sixty miles, and he pulled power to enter a fuel-conserving descent as his radar locked it. He was low on fuel but would make it before the FUEL LO caution appeared on his display. After all, he was a professional, handpicked for this mission.
And ready for more.
(USS Coral Sea, underway, Central Caribbean)
Several days later, after another long day at sea, Macho sat at her stateroom desk emailing her sister back home in Virginia. Today’s dissimilar air combat training hop against the Colombian Kfirs had been exhilarating, and as the XO’s trusted wingman, Macho had felt a kindred bond of sisterhood. Annie had led them out of the sun, gaining two early tallies. She had directed Macho to take the far bandit.
Macho came in high-to-low taking a big bite— the guy didn’t see her until she was almost saddled in for guns — and when he did, he took it up… a mistake.
Macho followed his predictable flight path with ease. Unable to maneuver hard, the gray delta-winged jet hung against the brilliant blue sky as it bled airspeed. It fell off right, and Macho followed it with her gun sight pipper on. Ho hum. Another day at the office. Staying behind her Kfir, with its nose buried, she noted Annie pushing her bandit around a mile away. White condensation poured off the Kfir’s wings as the pilot struggled to get his nose up and get the Hornet off him. Macho imagined “writing her name” on the fuselage of the aircraft in front of her with the imaginary bullets she was pumping into it. Satisfied, she called “Terminate,” and Annie soon followed. They joined up and returned home, logging some “practice plugs” on the Super Hornet tanker that orbited overhead the ship, and in sharp formation came into the break, both of them logging OK-3 wire passes. A great hop all around, Annie was a big sister she could look up to and a leader she could emulate.
Shane entered the stateroom after her day in CVIC, the carrier intel center. Her duty included debriefing pilots and updating launch and recovery information for their event briefings.
“Hiii!”
“Hi. How was CVIC?”
“Omigosh! It was so cool today! Commander Hofmeister assigned me to get the weather information for the flight briefings. The sailors in the meteorology office took me up to the tower and showed me how they launch weather balloons and take wind readings. It’s incredible up there! And they told me how the Captain turns the ship any way he wants in order to get the winds down the runway for you