Air Force Service
He soon began a military career, joining the Air Force Aviation Cadet Program at age 19 and later becoming a lieutenant in the Air Force. Rutan served during the Vietnam War with the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phu Cat Air Base, completing 325 combat missions. 105 came while serving as a "Fast FAC" (Misty 40) with Project Commando Sabre, Detachment 1 of the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the second highest total of sorties flown by the 157 Misty pilots. On August 17, 1967, his Misty tour ended when his F-100F was shot down, although he and his back-seat pilot were both rescued. He ejected a second time when the aircraft he was flying over England experienced engine failure. Through his career, he was awarded the Silver Star, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, 16 Air Medals, and a Purple Heart.
Read more about this topic: Dick Rutan
Famous quotes containing the words air, force and/or service:
“I remember when I was first assigned to jets. I said to the colonel, “Colonel, I joined this man’s air force to fly an airplane. But nobody’s gonna hitch me to no Roman candle.””
—Kurt Neumann (1906–1958)
“Americans have internalized the value that mothers of young children should be mothers first and foremost, and not paid workers. The result is that a substantial amount of confusion, ambivalence, guilt, and anxiety is experienced by working mothers. Our cultural expectations of mother and realities of female participation in the labor force are directly contradictory.”
—Ruth E. Zambrana, U.S. researcher, M. Hurst, and R.L. Hite. “The Working Mother in Contemporary Perspectives: A Review of Literature,” Pediatrics (December 1979)
“It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”
—Public Service Announcement.