1
00:00:00,260 --> 00:00:02,260
[Music/Jets flying]

2
00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:07,910
>>Well pilot call signs are kind of the nickname
that you end up getting with your squadron

3
00:00:07,910 --> 00:00:10,730
or the group of flyers that you fly with.

4
00:00:10,730 --> 00:00:14,160
>>You can have a lot of different ranks flying
together; instead of having to call someone

5
00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:19,060
sir or lieutenant colonel so-and-so, they
can call them their call sign.

6
00:00:19,060 --> 00:00:26,009
>>How you can get a call sign is one of two
ways- it can either be a natural fit to your

7
00:00:26,009 --> 00:00:30,609
last name or your first name, or a combination
thereof, or the other way you can get a call

8
00:00:30,609 --> 00:00:36,000
sign is by doing something really dumb.

9
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:41,580
[Music]

10
00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:49,480
>>Mine have never necessarily stuck; I've had
several throughout the years; one of the reasons

11
00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:55,219
I don't really have a call sign that sticks
is because I go by my middle name and it is

12
00:00:55,219 --> 00:01:00,370
relatively unique, unless you're in Sweden
or Norway, so because of that everybody thinks

13
00:01:00,370 --> 00:01:04,309
it's a call sign but it's really my name.

14
00:01:04,309 --> 00:01:05,500
>>My call sign is Ringo.

15
00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:08,490
It's just basically a play on my last name
of Ringelberg.

16
00:01:08,490 --> 00:01:12,531
It's easier than saying Ringelberg, so it's
kind of one that sort of stuck with me- and

17
00:01:12,531 --> 00:01:14,720
it wasn't because I screwed anything up.

18
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:21,250
>>I showed up to lead-in fighter training in
the Air Force at Holloman Air Force Base,

19
00:01:21,250 --> 00:01:25,730
and I walked up to the duty desk to report
in and one of the instructors there took a

20
00:01:25,730 --> 00:01:31,550
look at my last name, got on the PA and said
'all available pilots report to the duty desk'.

21
00:01:31,550 --> 00:01:36,580
They came up with Clue, making me Clue Less.

22
00:01:36,580 --> 00:01:38,580
[Music]

23
00:01:38,729 --> 00:01:40,439
>>My call sign is Trasher.

24
00:01:40,439 --> 00:01:42,130
When I was a kid, that was a nickname.

25
00:01:42,130 --> 00:01:46,729
I got into the military and became and Air
Force pilot, that nickname came back as a

26
00:01:46,729 --> 00:01:51,390
nickname, but it was never really earned and
I had a couple of other call signs along the

27
00:01:51,390 --> 00:01:52,850
way.

28
00:01:52,850 --> 00:01:58,869
But one particular incident, I was flying
B-1 bombers up in South Dakota; now a B-1

29
00:01:58,869 --> 00:02:02,850
bomber has four great big engines that put
out a lot of thrust, it's not something you

30
00:02:02,850 --> 00:02:04,270
want to stand behind.

31
00:02:04,270 --> 00:02:08,460
As we were taxiing out for a flight one day,
I had a problem with the aircraft and had

32
00:02:08,460 --> 00:02:09,460
to stop.

33
00:02:09,460 --> 00:02:13,220
And while I had stopped, the young airman
who had been marshaling me out of my parking

34
00:02:13,220 --> 00:02:16,370
spot thought he was finished and so he began
to walk off.

35
00:02:16,370 --> 00:02:20,780
He errantly walked behind the airplane, which
was ok at the time as I was stopped with the

36
00:02:20,780 --> 00:02:25,230
power in idle, but as I got my problem fixed
and started to roll forward again, I pushed

37
00:02:25,230 --> 00:02:30,030
up the power; literally picked him up off
his feet and blew him down the concrete ramp

38
00:02:30,030 --> 00:02:31,480
about one hundred yards.

39
00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:38,200
Fortunately, he was ok and just had some road
rash and cuts and bruises and tore up his

40
00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,601
uniform, so I had to buy him a case of beer
and a new uniform and after that my call sign

41
00:02:42,601 --> 00:02:46,520
was cemented in as Trasher, and remains that
to this day.

42
00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,820
[Music]

43
00:02:49,940 --> 00:02:54,430
>>My call sign is Gucci, it's not the coolest
or the most macho call sign that a guy would

44
00:02:54,430 --> 00:02:58,320
look for, so, I had no choice in it, and I
haven't been able to get rid of it.

45
00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,870
I was flying KC-10 tankers; then I applied
for the high-altitude U-2 program, when I

46
00:03:03,870 --> 00:03:09,260
arrived there, the first question that everybody
had for me was why would you leave a nice

47
00:03:09,260 --> 00:03:14,980
comfortable job like that, nice big airplane
that has perfect air conditioning, it's 72

48
00:03:14,980 --> 00:03:20,650
degrees, coffee makers, ovens, refrigerators,
nice comfortable seat, to come put a spacesuit

49
00:03:20,650 --> 00:03:22,430
on and live in a cramped little capsule?

50
00:03:22,430 --> 00:03:27,010
So the KC-10 guys were nicknamed the Gucci
Boys by the rest of the Air Force, because

51
00:03:27,010 --> 00:03:32,320
they only went to big airports around the
world, five-star hotels, things like that,

52
00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,210
because you couldn't put that big airplane
just anywhere.

53
00:03:35,210 --> 00:03:40,230
And so they said hey why would a Gucci Boy
want to come to this kind of lifestyle, and

54
00:03:40,230 --> 00:03:41,340
that's when it kind of stuck.

55
00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:45,790
There is, you know, rumors out there that
have run around historically that maybe I

56
00:03:45,790 --> 00:03:51,900
pay too much attention to my clothes or my
hair or the Maserati or stuff like that, but

57
00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:55,290
that really has nothing to do with the call
sign and the way it was awarded.

58
00:03:55,290 --> 00:04:00,340
So unfortunately you get stuck with it, I'd
like to have something more cool like Maverick

59
00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:05,930
or Sharpshooter or something but it doesn't
work that way, I got Gucci, so it's all about

60
00:04:05,930 --> 00:04:10,440
leather shoes and handbags and I can't change
that.

61
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:11,540
[Music]

62
00:04:11,540 --> 00:04:20,440
>>I'm a brand new combat wingman in the F-15
in Japan, it's my first war exercise, so it's

63
00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,530
like day 1 as a brand new wingman.

64
00:04:23,530 --> 00:04:28,320
We're gonna take off and go fly a night mission,
and right before take-off, we have to get

65
00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,110
our orders from a secure radio to headquarters.

66
00:04:32,110 --> 00:04:36,900
And my flight lead checks me in on the secure
radio, and I can't figure out how to make

67
00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:41,350
it work, because I've never seen it before,
I'm looking down at this panel that has XYZ,

68
00:04:41,350 --> 00:04:44,310
ABC, and I don't now what to do.

69
00:04:44,310 --> 00:04:50,030
There's no on/off button so I do my best and
am not on the radio frequency.

70
00:04:50,030 --> 00:04:55,770
He gets the orders for us, we take-off together,
fly our flight, come back in and land, once

71
00:04:55,770 --> 00:05:00,490
again I have a few moments to look down at
this radio; I still can't get it to work,

72
00:05:00,490 --> 00:05:04,430
so once again I'm not on the radio with him,
with headquarters.

73
00:05:04,430 --> 00:05:10,310
My flight lead saved that story until it was
my naming night and because that radio is