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ROCK SOLID WARRIOR

  • Published
  • 386th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  1st Lt. Brian Cote 

Maestro/Pilot 

Home unit/base: 40th Air Squadron, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas

How do you support the mission here? I am the operations liaison for the Mission Operations Center, Command Post and the operations support squadron commander. My job is to make it smooth and painless for the aircrews to get to and from their planes, accomplish the mission, and get back into crew rest for the next mission. I alert two to four crews daily, checking plane status with MOC and coordinating bus through crew transportation

How many times have you deployed and what makes this one unique? Since I have never deployed before, this has been quite a unique experience for me. Some of the benefits I had the chance to reap on this tour were flying into places all my buddies back home either see on CNN or have never heard of, and meeting people from too many backgrounds to count. I am not constantly worrying about getting back home, and I find it exhilarating to be directly impacting the mission in the great conflict of my generation. September 11, 2001 was my first day of ROTC, and I tried to quit that day so I could enlist and get in the fight right away. My detachment commander convinced me to stay, and I consider it a privilege to be here. I will volunteer to come back again and again.


How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? I am a co-pilot working towards aircraft commander upgrade and trying to learn all I can about the Air Force's premier tactical airlifter: the mighty C-130 Hercules. As such, my focus at home is vastly different. Flying around the flag pole in south Texas provides its own challenges to staying focused. In the desert, my crew and I have moved 2 percent of all the deployed troopers in Iraq, and at the Maestro desk I have maintained situational awareness on four different crews flying and preparing to step across the U.S. Central Command area of operations. Deployed job satisfaction is incomparable.