My Fighter Career: “I Wasn’t Born To Fly”

“My Fighter Career” is a limited series of articles by Byron Hukee. He’s a humble, bad ass, retired USAF pilot who flew everything from the F-100 to the F-16.

Hello, my name is Byron Hukee and I would like to get you to know me better with a bit of my background. I served in the USAF for 24 years and flew a variety of fighters and attack aircraft and finished with 3,100 total hours and 400 combat hours. I attended USAF pilot training at Webb AFB, Texas in the early ‘70s. In order, I flew the F-100D/F, the A-1E/G/H/J, the A-7D, the F-5B/E/F, and lastly, the F-16A/B.

Unlike many of my friends and fellow pilots, I was not someone who “was born to fly.” In fact, I had no intention of serving in the military but fate (and the Vietnam War draft) intervened. I attended college from 1964 to 1968 at a small school in Minneapolis called Augsburg College. I guess all along I thought I would become a teacher so that is what I set out to be. I majored in Biology and got a teaching job in a small southern Minnesota town. During my time at Augsburg, I was given a draft deferment since I was in a student. A man could qualify for a student deferment if he could show he was a full-time student making satisfactory progress in virtually any field of study. But once I graduated from college, all bets were off.

Drafted

It was over Christmas break of that first (and only) year teaching when I returned to my home town to find a draft notice on the refrigerator door, held in place by a magnet advertising the local dairy company. I looked at with astonishment and asked my mother when it had come. She said it was a while ago and she was right as I was to report for my pre-induction physical just after the new year. I passed the physical and was told that since I had a college degree, I could apply for the delayed entry program and I could also contact any branch of the military to see whether I could qualify for their officer programs.

I visited the Air Force recruiter first and was told that yes, they needed officers, especially those who wanted to be pilots. I had no idea whether this was for me, but decided to give it a shot. It certainly seemed better than crawling though rice paddies with a pack and a rifle over my shoulder.  I took a test called the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) that would determine whether or not I was fit to be an officer. I passed and my next hurdle was to pass a flight physical to determine whether I had any physical deficiencies that would disqualify me from flying.. There were none, so seemingly I was good to do. I was allowed to finish the teaching year at my school and it was there that I met and married my current wife so we have made this whole trip together, going on 54 years of marriage. Looks like it will work out.

I departed for Lackland AFB, Texas and AF OTS (officer training school) in August 1969. It was a 90 day program with the first six weeks as a know nothing knuckle head and the next six weeks being part of the harassment team for the new knuckle heads. I rode to Kelly AFB near San Antonio in a KC-97 aircraft from the Minnesota ANG. Quite a noisy ride and horrible vibration the whole way. OTS was a bit intimidating but there was comfort in knowing we all in my class in this together, so cooperate and graduate was the rule of the day.

Near the end of OTS, we were given our base of assignment and I was sent to Webb in Big Spring, Texas. UPT was very demanding, but once I figured out flying was fun and I was good at it, I could relax more and have fun.

First up was the T-41, the military version of the Cessna 172. I went in to my flight training very apprehensive, but confident I could get it done. What I didn’t know was that even though I might have the skills and coordination to fly, I had no idea whether I could keep from getting air sick. We had many in our class get eliminated because they could not fly without getting air sick at some point in their flights. I found that it was never a problem for me, not ever. I completed the T-41 training easily and was among the first in my class to solo. On that flight we took off and did some air work, then came back to the traffic pattern for stop and go landings. After the third landing, the instructor told me to taxi to the side, he opened hid door and got out, saying have a nice flight.  Wow!  I took off, did two more stop and goes, then a full stop. What a relief!

Pilot Training Begins

The T-37 “Tweet” was next and my biggest worry was air sickness since I knew we would be doing spins and spin recoveries. That can get a bit wild. But there were no problems and the formation flying was fun and I was good at it. I was anxious to get on to the T-38 and that was next.

Everything about the T-38 was amazing. The White Rocket was a real treat after flying the Tweet and once again I adjusted nicely to the added speeds in all phases of flight. Airwork, instrument training, formation flying and landings… I did it all and had no problems with any of it.

Maybe I Was Born to Fly. I Was Doing It.

I was not the top of my class, but high enough to get a fighter assignment. During that time, some of the top guys wanted to go fly C-141 or other multi-engine aircraft so they could jump to the airlines the first chance they got. Good for them! I’ll go fly fighters! My assignment upon completion of UPT was to the F-100 at Luke AFB. Upon completion, I was told we would be headed to Vietnam to fly the F-100 in combat.