Age is just a number: Two Blue Devils continue to serve regardless of age

Published April 22, 2013
By Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- **Editor's note: Last names of Intelligence Reconnaissance Surveillance operators are withheld for security reasons**

Two Blue Devils walk into a hangar... This may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but in reality, it depicts two gentlemen who have accumulated almost 50,000 hours of flight in a multitude of aircraft over the past five decades.

The two Blue Devils, Tom and Ben, who are a part of the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, are seasoned flying veterans who continue to serve their country as civilian contractors flying U-21 aircraft on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance missions over the skies of Afghanistan.

Tom, 68, served four years as a security policeman in the Air Force before finding his way into aviation. He flew charter, cargo and corporate aircraft before transitioning to his current position as an ISR pilot. In all, he has accumulated more than 20,500 flying hours.

Ben, 66, attended Army Flight School in 1968 and flew helicopters during the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1970. He then focused on flying charter, airliner and corporate aircraft before assuming his current position.

"We've been doing this for a long time now, and it never gets old," Tom said. "We were at the end of our careers when this opportunity presented itself, and I felt it was my duty to come back and serve our country."

The two gentlemen are contracted pilots that rotate in two-month increments back and forth from their homes in the U.S. over a two year period.

"It only made sense to come back and do this," Tom said. "I've been blessed with a very unique skill set so I felt it was my duty to give back. Someone has to do the job, why not me?"

Ben explained how even though he has been flying for a good portion of his life, his current job and the impact it has while deployed here has been the most rewarding.

"What we get to do day-in and day-out is pretty routine with getting the bird in the air and conducting our missions," he said. "But doing that, we directly support the troops on the ground. The information we gather is critical in so many ways."

While having extensive and diverse backgrounds in aviation, the two pilots both agreed flying here is a very unique experience.

"Everything is different," Ben said. "The controls, the equipment and even the language used is completely different from anything we've done to this point. The only similarity is we are flying."

Even though the job comes with a new learning curve and adapting to a whole new aircraft, the two Blue Devils wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's nice to be a part of something so successful," Tom said. "We're really part of the unit here and everyone has been very receptive of the two old guys flying the first chalk of the day. In any instance, for both of us, we're doing something we love to do and never want to stop. But regardless, we couldn't have done it, or continue to do it without the support of our families."

So, two Blue Devils walk out of a hangar who have spent nearly 5-and-a-half total years in the sky. While the scenario is no joke, it is an outstanding accomplishment in the aviation community.