Here we are in the hangar getting ready to taxi out. The Airman in the back right is the Crew Chief in charge of maintaining and getting the Air Craft ready to fly. He works in an Aircraft Maintenance unit that liaisons with the flying squadrons and the Maintenance squadrons.
Now I have a new respect for the pilots and all the behind the scenes work needed to generate a sortie. The fly boys go through many training sessions prior to flying a jet. They also go through many mission planning sessions and briefings, wear many pieces of equipment and are challenged daily by the weather. Living in Northern Japan brings in some unpredictable weather and it is difficult to say the least to plan around the sea fog, snow, & clouds for precision bombing. Also, it is amazing how many gadgets, screens & buttons there are in the cockpit. They barely seem to have much room to manuever around to que up weapons and fly with their hands, feet and eyes while deciding which targets to go after.
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