Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Mike 'Magoo' McGee.In the first episode about Magoo's career, we focus on his T-38 training in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program at Sheppard AFB, TX.About Magoo:Mike was born in 1964 and grew up outside of Boston, Mass. The son of an Air Force veteran, his dad took him to the 1968 Hanscom AFB airshow as a four year old. Seeing the Thunderbirds F-100 Super Sabres in action set the hook for his lifelong dream to become a fighter pilot. A 1987 graduate of UMass Amherst, he was commissioned a 2nd Lt through Air Force ROTC. Mike earned his coveted silver pilot's wings in 1989 from the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program at Sheppard AFB, TX. After pipeline training to include Survival, Water Survival, and Lead In Fighter Training at Holloman AFB, NM in the AT-38B, he completed A-10 Warthog Replacement Training at Davis Monthan AFB, AZ. His first operational assignment was to Myrtle Beach AFB, SC as part of the 355th TFS "Fightin' Falcons." He was soon deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield. An aviation artist as well, he killed time in the desert painting nose art on the unit's Warthogs, initially without permission. Mike flew 36 night attack combat missions in Desert Storm, usually employing the IR version of the tank killing Maverick missile to good effect. Upon return from the Gulf, he was selected for transition to the F-15C Eagle. Based out of Elmendorf AFB, AK, Mike flew the Eagle all over the Pacific rim from Singapore to Guam. After that he was an F-15 RTU Instructor and Flight Commander at Tyndall AFB, FL teaching new fighter pilots how to fly and fight in the Eagle. He then served on exchange with the US Navy as an F/A-18 instructor pilot at Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific, NAS Lemoore, CA. He was OIC of the unit's Advanced Tactical Training Program, as well as the AIM-120 SME and a qualified SFARP instructor in all phases of Hornet air to air employment. In 2001, now a Major, Mike left the regular Air Force to join the Massachusetts Air National Guard at Otis ANGB, Cape Cod, MA to fly Eagles again. After 9/11, he flew combat air patrols over New York and Boston as part of Operation Noble Eagle and sat air defense alert as part of NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector. When his unit, the 102nd Fighter Wing, was deactivated by the Base Realignment Commission, Mike hung up his fighter spurs after a 20 year flying career. He is proud and privileged to have logged over 3,300 hours in three different fighters and has the somewhat rare distinction of having never being out of the cockpit at any point in his time in service. In January, 2002 Mike retired as a Lt Col and, realizing he now had to grow up and find a real job, was hired by a major US airline. He's been flying the A320 for almost 18 years and been a Captain for the last 10. He has two daughters from a previous marriage, and he and his wife Lynne live within sight of Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, MA. When not golfing with Lynne, he golfs even more and spends his time reading military history, is a wargame nut, and occasionally paints as an aviation artist. His work has hung at the US Naval Aviation Museum and can be found in various Air Force and Navy fighter squadrons as well. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guests are three Green Berets from ODA 595, Mark Nutsch, Paul Evans, and Mike Elmore, and three members of VF-213, Nate Bailey, Michael Peterson, and Chip King.Today, we talk about the aftermath of the first strafing run that Biff and Tung conducted in support of ODA 595 and the use of that tactic throughout the remainder of VF-213's deployment.We also talk about the remaining months of operations that ODA 595 and VF-213 conducting in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the takeaways that each of our guests had from their participation in the early days of the Global War on Terror. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guests are three Green Berets from ODA 595, Mark Nutsch, Paul Evans, and Mike Elmore, and three members of VF-213, Nate Bailey, Michael Peterson, and Chip King.Today, we dive into the evolving conditions inside and overhead in Afghanistan as Green Berets arrived in the country, and we talk about the difficulties of calling in close air support in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Towards the end of the episode, we address the single incident on November 5, 2001 that shifted the way that F-14 Tomcats would support ground forces working to push back the Taliban . About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guests are three Green Berets from ODA 595, Mark Nutsch, Paul Evans, and Mike Elmore, and three members of VF-213, Nate Bailey, Michael Peterson, and Chip King.Today, we dive into the missions that ODA 595 and VF-213 had prior to the attacks of 9/11, and how those missions changed after the terror attacks that shocked the world.Our conversation will lead us to a discussion of a single incident in November 2001 that shifted the way that F-14 Tomcats supported ground forces working to push back the Taliban in the earliest days of Operation Enduring Freedom. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to a special episode of Cowboy Time at The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living.

TACO and Beth are discussing U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams Jr.'s incredibly heroic dogfight in the Korean War, when the Panther pilot downed one MiG-15 and subsequently took on 6 Soviet fighters single-handedly, killing two more MiGs and sending another to crash-land in Siberia before returning to the boat only to be targeted by his own carrier group. Though the truth of Williams' heroism was classified for over half a century. The Silver Star recipient was originally credited with one MiG kill and one probable, but following Russia's and the NSA's revelations that Williams' true count in that outnumbered dog fight was three MiG kills and one probable, Williams was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during President Donald Trump's recent State of the Union.We discuss the events of the day, the consummate professionalism Williams demonstrated, and the importance of including his actions in the written and oral history of Naval aviation.

About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Lt. Col. James Russell 'Rusty' O'Brien, our first guest from the U.S. Air Force.In the final episode about Rusty's career, we talk about his sendoff to the F-111, Op. Provide Comfort, the enforcement of the No Fly Zone over Iraq, and Rusty's career at the Pentagon with the Air Force Deep Strike Group and beyond.About Rusty:James Russell 'Rusty' O’Brien grew up in Long Island, New York and attended Uniondale High School then Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. He was selected to F&M Sports Hall of Fame in Football and Lacrosse.Rusty entered the Air Force with his first operational assignment in the EC-121 with deployments to Iceland and Korat AB Thailand. He flew in Linebacker II, the bombing of Hanoi in Dec. 1972. He transitioned to F-4E and flew air superiority missions at Osan AB Korea and Clark AB in the Philippines, followed by an assignment to the F-111 at RAF Lakenheath, England, serving as chief of squadron weapons and tactics in the 494TFS and flight commander in the 495TFS.Next, Rusty was a weapons and tactics officer and Chief of the Targeting Cell at USCENTAF, developing new tactics for Southwest Asia while keeping currency in the F-111D and flying other US and allied fighters assigned to CENTAF. He attended Naval Postgraduate School with follow on assignment to US Southern Command in Panama where he was Chief of the Andean Pol- Mil Division and was Director of the Latin American Counterdrug Task Force. Rusty returned to the 48 TFW at Lakenheath (Nov 89) as 492TFS Operations Officer, deployed in the first increment to Desert Shield as Chief of 48TFW Combat Planning where he coordinated F-111 tasking and targeting with the Top Secret "Black Hole" in Riyadh. Rusty was then appointed as commander of 495TFS and flew in Desert Storm.After deactivating the 495th in 1992 he became Deputy Director of Operations at 3rd Air Force and served in Turkey as Director of Allied Operations (J-3) for Operation Provide Comfort and the Northern Iraq No Fly Zone His last assignments were in the Pentagon as Chief of the AF Roles and Missions Group and Chief of Air Force Deep Strike Group, retiring in Feb 1998. After active duty continued to support Air Force, Joint Staff and OSD as VP of a defense contractor and then as Senior Advisor to the Director of Missile Defense Agency.He is currently playing for various Lacrosse teams across the country, is captain of his Fredericksburg, Va team, and runs Lacrosse tournaments in Central Va.Rusty also leads an effort to restore lost F-111 history at the 48 TFW in England. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Lt. Col. James Russell 'Rusty' O'Brien, our first guest from the U.S. Air Force.In the fourth episode about Rusty's career, we talk about his participation in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. About Rusty:James Russell 'Rusty' O’Brien grew up in Long Island, New York and attended Uniondale High School then Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. He was selected to F&M Sports Hall of Fame in Football and Lacrosse.Rusty entered the Air Force with his first operational assignment in the EC-121 with deployments to Iceland and Korat AB Thailand. He flew in Linebacker II, the bombing of Hanoi in Dec. 1972. He transitioned to F-4E and flew air superiority missions at Osan AB Korea and Clark AB in the Philippines, followed by an assignment to the F-111 at RAF Lakenheath, England, serving as chief of squadron weapons and tactics in the 494TFS and flight commander in the 495TFS.Next, Rusty was a weapons and tactics officer and Chief of the Targeting Cell at USCENTAF, developing new tactics for Southwest Asia while keeping currency in the F-111D and flying other US and allied fighters assigned to CENTAF. He attended Naval Postgraduate School with follow on assignment to US Southern Command in Panama where he was Chief of the Andean Pol- Mil Division and was Director of the Latin American Counterdrug Task Force. Rusty returned to the 48 TFW at Lakenheath (Nov 89) as 492TFS Operations Officer, deployed in the first increment to Desert Shield as Chief of 48TFW Combat Planning where he coordinated F-111 tasking and targeting with the Top Secret "Black Hole" in Riyadh. Rusty was then appointed as commander of 495TFS and flew in Desert Storm.After deactivating the 495th in 1992 he became Deputy Director of Operations at 3rd Air Force and served in Turkey as Director of Allied Operations (J-3) for Operation Provide Comfort and the Northern Iraq No Fly Zone His last assignments were in the Pentagon as Chief of the AF Roles and Missions Group and Chief of Air Force Deep Strike Group, retiring in Feb 1998. After active duty continued to support Air Force, Joint Staff and OSD as VP of a defense contractor and then as Senior Advisor to the Director of Missile Defense Agency.He is currently playing for various Lacrosse teams across the country, is captain of his Fredericksburg, Va team, and runs Lacrosse tournaments in Central Va.Rusty also leads an effort to restore lost F-111 history at the 48 TFW in England. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Lt. Col. James Russell 'Rusty' O'Brien, our first guest from the U.S. Air Force.In the third episode about Rusty's career, we talk about his first assignment after Naval Postgraduate School as Chief of the Andean Pol- Mil Division and Director of the Latin American Counterdrug Task Force in SOUTHCOM. About Rusty:James Russell 'Rusty' O’Brien grew up in Long Island, New York and attended Uniondale High School then Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. He was selected to F&M Sports Hall of Fame in Football and Lacrosse.Rusty entered the Air Force with his first operational assignment in the EC-121 with deployments to Iceland and Korat AB Thailand. He flew in Linebacker II, the bombing of Hanoi in Dec. 1972. He transitioned to F-4E and flew air superiority missions at Osan AB Korea and Clark AB in the Philippines, followed by an assignment to the F-111 at RAF Lakenheath, England, serving as chief of squadron weapons and tactics in the 494TFS and flight commander in the 495TFS.Next, Rusty was a weapons and tactics officer and Chief of the Targeting Cell at USCENTAF, developing new tactics for Southwest Asia while keeping currency in the F-111D and flying other US and allied fighters assigned to CENTAF. He attended Naval Postgraduate School with follow on assignment to US Southern Command in Panama where he was Chief of the Andean Pol- Mil Division and was Director of the Latin American Counterdrug Task Force. Rusty returned to the 48 TFW at Lakenheath (Nov 89) as 492TFS Operations Officer, deployed in the first increment to Desert Shield as Chief of 48TFW Combat Planning where he coordinated F-111 tasking and targeting with the Top Secret "Black Hole" in Riyadh. Rusty was then appointed as commander of 495TFS and flew in Desert Storm.After deactivating the 495th in 1992 he became Deputy Director of Operations at 3rd Air Force and served in Turkey as Director of Allied Operations (J-3) for Operation Provide Comfort and the Northern Iraq No Fly Zone His last assignments were in the Pentagon as Chief of the AF Roles and Missions Group and Chief of Air Force Deep Strike Group, retiring in Feb 1998. After active duty continued to support Air Force, Joint Staff and OSD as VP of a defense contractor and then as Senior Advisor to the Director of Missile Defense Agency.He is currently playing for various Lacrosse teams across the country, is captain of his Fredericksburg, Va team, and runs Lacrosse tournaments in Central Va.Rusty also leads an effort to restore lost F-111 history at the 48 TFW in England. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.