WHITEMAN AFB, Mo. --
Sometimes a midlife crisis means buying a new car, or joining a band.
"I've got the same wife and I drive a used car," said Lt. Col. Mark Ernewein, a traditional Reservist and pilot from the 442d Fighter Wing. "For my midlife crisis I became an iron man."
Ernewein competed as a novice in the Ironman Wisconsin triathlon on Sept. 7 and finished in the top 25 percent of participants, who swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran a full 26.2 mile marathon. He finished in 12 hours. Although, he said, the numbers aren't as important as enjoying the event.
Ernewein's family cheered him on in the crowd during the race and he was encouraged by more than a hundred Facebook posts from his friends. His younger brother, who graduated a year after him from the Air Force Academy, also competed in the race and finished in 16 hours.
"He finished after me," said Ernewein, "But he felt better than me the next day."
The secret to finishing a triathlon, he said, is knowing the limits of your own body.
"It's about doing it right- not doing it hard," Ernewein explained. "Anyone can do an Ironman, but if you swim too hard or bike too hard you'll crash. I trained and executed for the level I was at and I met my goal. Twenty percent of the challenge is training and the rest is mental."
Ernewein's goal was to complete an Ironman before his fiftieth birthday. He met his goal by one month.
"Turning 50, that was my benchmark. I plan to be healthy the rest of my life," he said.
Ernewein, former commander of the 303d Fighter Squadron and commercial pilot in his civilian career, is planning to retire in October 2014 after flying the A-10 for 27 years. He served 12 combat deployments, has four thousand flying hours, and, he adds, that's all irrelevant.
"The whole statistics thing- the hours you fly, the number of bombs you drop- it doesn't matter," he said. "I don't want young guys looking at that thinking it's a record to beat. By far and away the most rewarding thing is knowing friendly forces go home to their families because of us."
When asked to describe one of his most memorable missions he tells the story of a convoy stranded in Afghanistan. Their radios were not working and they were under attack. Ernewein flew the mission to protect the convoy.
"We flew a number of low passes to put the aircraft between the bad guys and the convoy and gave them time to get away," he recalled. "We didn't fire a single bullet."
The number of lives you save, Ernewein said, is hard to quantify. The most important memories from a career cannot be captured in statistics. As a deployed commander he recalled the most rewarding experience was hearing from the ground troops. Convoy members would seek out the pilot who had saved their lives and Ernewein, as the commander, would help connect the soldiers to the right pilot.
"They would tell me how someone in the squadron had saved their life and they wanted to say 'thank you' in person," Ernewein recalled. "Ultimately we should be thanking them. They are the ones who risked it all.
Ernewein claimed one of his proudest achievements on a deployment was setting up an improvised barbeque pit and supply network to serve cooked meat after his squadron had been eating preserved MREs for three months on a deployment.
He's retiring with medals and awards, but the best, he said, is that he's retiring as the reigning barbeque champion of the 303d Fighter Squadron.