Pilot tours A-10 with former teammate

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
  • 442d Figther Wing PA
WHITEMAN AFB, Mo. --  Lt. Col. Preston McConnell, a pilot with the 303d Fighter Squadron, gave a tour of the A-10 simulator here on Friday, November 21 at the 442d Fighter Wing to an old teammate from his undergrad.

The team happened to be the Air Force Academy football team and the visitor happened to be the vice commander of the 509th Bomb Wing, the host unit out of Whitman Air Force Base, Col. Matthew Brooks.

"It brought back 20 years of memories. He was calling me names I haven't been called in forever," said McConnell. "Not bad names, but nicknames I was called playing football."

Brooks compared the experience of playing football to his career as a pilot- and the importance of teamwork in both.

"The feeling is similar," he said. "But in the Air Force it's on a larger scale."

McConnell, whose squadron just returned from a seven month deployment providing close air support to troops in combat in Afghanistan, added that the experience of playing football helped them learn how to grow from mistakes while they were young.

"The consequences are way different," explained McConnell. "When you play football the consequence of making a mistake is that you lose the game. Here if you make a mistake you might lose a life."

"The coach would tell us," said Brooks, "the test of leadership is when you face adversity, how do you bounce back? A classic example is that Preston and I both faced injuries. We both missed games. But you come back stronger."