The Road to Wings

by Julie Tizard

*****

  The O Club was jammed as Casey’s classmates lined up to receive their new flying assignments. Casey was the third person in line, so she wasn’t the top stick, but she was in the top ten percent. The wing commander was at the podium and gave his usual admonition that all assignments were good and that the needs of the Air Force came first.

  The first guy got an F-16 to Germany and he was elated. The next one got a KC-10 to Louisiana and was thrilled. Casey was next and Kathryn held her breath as they read out her assignment, “T-37 to Willie!” Casey was beaming as she pumped her fist into the air. Her entire class cheered for her, and Kathryn was filled with pride as she looked at Casey’s beautiful, radiant face. Kathryn couldn’t wait to tell Casey how proud she was of her and to throw her arms around her neck.

  “Another one for our team!” Barb said as she slapped Kathryn on the back.

  The assignments continued as the rest of the class got their airplanes. Almost everyone was happy, then the wing commander came back to the podium.

  “I want to congratulate all of you on your flying assignments, and I want to share some more good news. We have three officers who just got selected for promotion to major: Captain Stavros from the 96th Squadron, Captain Marshall from the 97th Squadron, and Captain Hardesty from Wing Safety. Also, I’m happy to announce that Captain Hardesty got selected for Air Command and Staff College in residence at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. This is a very significant achievement. Please join me in congratulating all these fine officers. Oh, and you three new major-selects, you’re buying drinks for everyone!” A huge cheer erupted from everyone except Kathryn. I can’t believe he just did that in front of everyone. Oh my God, I have to talk to Casey.

  Kathryn was surrounded by a throng of people, but she was desperate to find Casey and explain everything to her. She looked everywhere but couldn’t find her. She went out to the parking lot to look for her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Casey sounded hurt.

  “Casey, I had no idea the wing commander was going to say that tonight. I was going to tell you about it as soon as I was sure. I’m so sorry. Please believe me.” Kathryn reached for Casey but she stepped away from her.

  “How can I, Kathryn? All you had to do was pick up the phone and talk to me. I requested my IP assignment to Willie so we could be together. Now what’s going to happen? I can’t believe you did this to me on the most important night of my life. I don’t think you really want to be with me at all. You lied to me. I have to go.” She turned to leave.

  “Casey, wait, please let’s talk about this.”

  “Now you want to talk about it? It’s too late. It’s a done deal. I hope you’re happy in Alabama.” She turned her back on Kathryn and walked away into the darkness.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  January 1993

  Casey hadn’t spoken to Kathryn since the assignment night fiasco. She’d been so happy to get her Tweet to Willie, then so completely crushed by Kathryn’s betrayal. The part that hurt the most was the realization that Kathryn had chosen her career advancement in the Air Force over their relationship. She’d really thought they were in love with each other, but maybe her idea of love was different from Kathryn’s.

  There was still so much she didn’t understand. Why didn’t Kathryn talk to her about her school assignment? Did she think Casey couldn’t handle it? Why didn’t Kathryn even try to make it work?

  There was a knock at her door. When she went to answer it, Kathryn was standing there looking more beautiful than ever. She started to close the door, but Kathryn blocked it with her foot.

  “I don’t want to talk to you. Please leave.” Casey lowered her voice so she couldn’t be heard.

  “I know you don’t, but I have to talk to you. I’ll talk to you standing here in the hall or you can let me in. It’s your choice, but I’m not going anywhere.” The look of steely determination on her face was one Casey was very familiar with.

  “All right, come in, but it won’t change anything.”

  Kathryn sat on the bed and motioned for Casey to sit next to her. Casey stayed standing.

  “I need to tell you the full story of what happened. When I’m through, you can ask me any questions, or you can ask me to leave and I will never bother you again. Deal?”

  “I’m listening.” Casey stood with her arms folded over her chest.

  “The wing commander told me he put me in for promotion and for the school assignment about a month ago. I was honored, but then I realized it would be impossible for you and me to be together if I accepted it. So I asked if I could delay school to give us a chance to be together. He got mad and had his deputy threaten to send me to Greenland immediately for four years if I refused the school assignment. I felt stuck. I had to accept it so I could try and figure out a solution for us. Casey, it was so wrong of me to not tell you about this. I’m so sorry.”

  “I already know all this. Is there something else relevant you want to tell me?”

  “Yes, there is. I figured out a solution for us. I’m leaving the Air Force.”

  “You’re what? You can’t do that. You’re the best IP on this base. I could never forgive myself if you left what you love doing because of me. I can’t let you do that, Kathryn.” Casey sat on the bed next to her and took Kathryn’s hands.

  “Casey, loving you is the most important thing in my life. No job, or promotion, or school, or even flying Air Force jets is worth losing you. I thought I lost the love of my life once before, but I was wrong. You are the woman I love, and I will not let anything come between us. This is the only way we can be free. I’m trusting you with my heart. I’m in love with you and I want to be with you forever.” Her last words were choked with emotion as her eyes welled up.

  Casey wrapped her arms around Kathryn. “I love you too, Kathryn, more than anything. But I want to fly too.”

  “I know you do, and you will. You’ll be a great Tweet IP. I want that for you and I’ll be supporting you all the way. Please tell me you forgive me. I’ll never lie to you again, ever.”

  “You damn well better not. Yes, I forgive you. I couldn’t stay mad at you even if I tried. I adore you, Kathryn. What will you do if you’re out of the Air Force?”

  “I will get an airline job. I have a lot of friends flying for them. I’ll be fine as long as I get to come home to you.” Kathryn reached for Casey’s face and kissed her soft, velvety lips.

  “I want you in bed.” Kathryn was breathless. Their kisses soon became intense as they removed each other’s clothes. They fell back into the bed and Casey pressed her full body against Kathryn’s, inhaling deeply of her unique sweetness. Kathryn’s skin was liquid warmth in her arms and she wanted contact with every inch of her.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” Casey murmured into her neck.

  “I’ve missed you too. You’re so beautiful, Casey, I almost can’t handle it.” Kathryn held Casey’s face and kissed her with fierce abandon. She wanted to consume Casey and to be consumed by her in return. She hungered for Casey’s tongue in her mouth, her fingers deep in her body, and her soul inside her heart. Nothing else in the world existed at this moment, only their bodies, this bed, and their love.

  They moved together in perfect harmony—rising, falling, tasting, giving. Kathryn pulled Casey’s face to her own. “I love you. I love you so much. I’m yours, only yours.” She held Casey as hard as she could as tears came to her eyes.

  “I love you,” Casey answered softly. She gently kissed Kathryn’s damp cheeks. “I love you, only you, Kathryn.” They made love to each other the rest of the night, sealing their love once and for all.

  *****

  Casey had one last student flight before she graduated. She thought back to her very first day at Willie, when she saw that gorgeous T-38 four-ship fly right over her head and now, here she was about to achieve the dream of her life, and lead that same T-38 formation, with the love of her life, Kathryn, waiting for her. She could barely contain her happiness.
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  She prepared her formation brief, then the other pilots took their seats for the mission brief. The last crew arrived right at briefing start time. Major Bulldog Pruitt and Captain Kathryn “Hard-Ass” Hardesty would be flying the number two jet. Casey tried to be professional, but she couldn’t help smiling at them.

  “Flight Safety will be observing our mission today. Y’all know Captain Hardesty,” Bulldog announced.

  Casey had to avoid eye contact with Kathryn so she could complete her mission briefing without getting derailed. They all went to the parachute shop, and Kathryn and Casey ducked into the restroom. Casey grabbed Kathryn in a big hug. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d be flying with me today?”

  “Surprise! I arranged with Bulldog to fly in his backseat. I couldn’t miss your last student flight. Excellent brief, by the way.” She reached up and gave Casey a quick kiss.

  Casey was beaming as she climbed into her jet. She quickly completed her preflight inspection and checked the formation in on the radio. “AWOL 47 Flight, check in.”

  She was pleased to hear a crisp, “Toop.” “Three.” “Four.”

  They taxied out together, and Casey checked her flight was ready at the end of the runway. She looked over her left shoulder to see Bulldog’s red and black helmet in the front seat and Kathryn’s blue and white helmet in the backseat of the number two jet. Kathryn gave her a gloved thumbs-up and touched her fist to her visor, indicating she was flying the jet. They took the runway as two-ship elements with Casey as lead, Kathryn as Two, doing a wing takeoff followed fifteen seconds later by Three and Four.

  Casey rolled to thirty degrees of bank for the rejoin and Kathryn was right on her wingtip like she flew this jet every day. Three and Four joined on the opposite wing as they flew to the practice area in a perfect blue sky.

  *****

  Kathryn couldn’t stop smiling flying three feet away from Casey at three hundred knots. She didn’t fly the T-38 often, but when she did, she loved it. It was like riding a bike. Once you mastered the White Rocket, you never forgot it. She could see Three and Four on Casey’s other wing holding good position. Casey made a quick wing rock to signal all the jets go to her right side, then she gave the “hook ’em horns” signal and rolled into a sixty-degree banked turn as all four jets rolled with her into an echelon turn. She smoothly rolled out and she continued to lead the four-ship through some very challenging maneuvers. She was a smooth, strong leader who thought well ahead of the jets.

  “Bulldog, take the jet. I want to get some pictures.”

  “Roger, my jet,” he answered.

  Kathryn took several pictures of Casey flying her jet with the Arizona mountains in the background. It was a spectacularly beautiful day and an impressive sight with all four jets flying together.

  Casey gave the formation the position change signal and she and Kathryn became Three and Four. Kathryn remembered what Casey was like as a brand-new student pilot. She was so serious and hardworking. Kathryn had been impressed with her from their first flight together. How could she have ever known that Casey would become her favorite student pilot ever, or that she would lose her heart to this beautiful, driven, passionate woman, the love of her life.

  Kathryn was bursting with pride. Casey had grown into a skilled, confident pilot with exceptional leadership abilities. Her flying skills exceeded Kathryn’s and she would be a great IP. Kathryn was humbled and honored to love, and be loved by, this amazing woman.

  After a picture-perfect formation arrival into the overhead pattern and a greased landing, they met in the flight room for the last debrief.

  “Excellent ride, as always, Ace. Well, I guess this is the end of the line for us. You’ve done a great job and I’m proud to have been your IP.” Bulldog reached out to shake her hand.

  “Thanks for everything, Bulldog. I’m so glad you were my IP.” Casey pulled him into a big hug.

  “All right, that’s enough of that. Now, get out of my hair. Oh, wait, I still don’t got no hair!” They all shared a laugh, then went their separate ways.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  The big day was finally here. Graduation day for the newest group of Air Force pilots. Casey enjoyed her last few days off as her classmates finished training. She spent every night at Kathryn’s house and she’d gotten her new squadron patches sewn on her flight suits—the Boxing Bunny of the 96th Flying Training Squadron. This was a unit with a long, proud history and she couldn’t wait to go back and fly the mighty Tweet.

  “There’s something I want you to see before we go over to the graduation ceremony.”

  “Great, what is it, Kathryn?”

  “You’ll see.” They hopped into her red convertible and drove over to base operations.

  “Hard-Ass! How are you?” A very cute blonde ran over to Kathryn and threw her arms around her.

  “Mary, I’m so happy to see you. This is Casey Tompkins, who is graduating today. Casey, this is Mary Morrison, one of my former students and the aircraft commander of this beauty.”

  “You guys want to see my plane? Come on. Did you tell Casey your news?”

  Casey turned to Kathryn. “No, she didn’t. What news is that?”

  They walked outside to the ramp. “Check out my new ride.” Kathryn pointed to an enormous KC-10 aircraft parked right in front of them. “I’ll be flying this in the Air Force Reserve at March Air Force Base.”

  “What? That’s amazing. This plane is so huge.”

  Mary gave them the deluxe tour of the massive three-engine jet from the flight deck with at least a thousand dials and buttons, through the cavernous interior, to the boom operator’s station in the back.

  “This plane weighs over half a million pounds, carries fifty thousand gallons of fuel, can fly over twenty-five hours, and can receive gas from another tanker.” The size and capabilities were awe-inspiring.

  “Thanks for the tour, Mary. See you at March in a few weeks,” Kathryn said.

  *****

  “I can’t believe you’re going to fly the KC-10 in the Reserves. I’m so happy for you, Kathryn.”

  “It won’t be easy. I’ll be in training while you’re at instructor school and I’ll have to go to March to fly, but I think we can work it out. I’ll work on an airline job after I’m through with training.” She pulled Casey into a kiss. “Hey, we have a graduation to get to, Captain.”

  After an entire year of constant study, near-death flying experiences, and the hardest work Casey had ever put into anything in her life, today she would pin on the silver wings of a real Air Force pilot. She could hardly believe she’d actually made it.

  They both put on their dress blue uniforms with all the medals. “Kathryn, I want you to pin on my wings.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I don’t think I would have made it to this day without you.”

  “I’d be honored to, Casey.”

  The base theater was filled with family, friends, IPs, and students as the graduating class took their seats at the front. They all stood for “The Star Spangled Banner,” then a visiting general gave a speech, then they asked all the IPs to stand. Casey looked for Kathryn, and her class stood in ovation to their instructors. The wing commander made some remarks, then the class commander called up the new pilots to get their wings and diplomas.

  As each person was called, they projected a picture of the pilot next to a picture of their new airplane. Casey looked very dashing in her picture standing on the ladder of her T-38 holding her helmet and wearing her G-suit with a picture of a T-37 next to her. When they called her name, she stood up to her full height, held her shoulders back, and marched up to the stage. This was the moment she’d dreamed about for years, the achievement of her lifetime.

  The wing commander said, “Congratulations, Casey. I’m so glad you’ll be staying with us at Willie.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She saluted, marched off the stage, and looked for the face that meant more than anything to her. Kathryn stood and applauded
with a huge grin on her face. Kathryn’s look of sheer happiness was the icing on the cake to this amazing day. After everyone got their wings, the entire group stood up and sang a rousing version of “The US Air Force Song.”

  Casey went outside to see Kathryn, Bulldog, Merrilee, Barb, Trish, and Rhonda waiting for her.

  “Captain, you’re out of uniform. Let’s get those wings on!” Bulldog said.

  Casey handed her new wings to Kathryn so she could pin them on.

  “No, those are the wings you have to break first,” Bulldog explained.

  “What do you mean?” Casey asked.

  “The Air Force tradition is that you have to break the first wings you are ever given. This is so you will always have good luck in the sky when you fly. Then we pin on your real wings,” Barb explained.

  “But I don’t have any other wings.”

  “I have your wings, Casey. These are my first wings,” Kathryn said.

  Casey was speechless. Kathryn was passing on her very own wings to her. She was humbled and overwhelmed.

  “You have to break these new ones first and keep the two halves forever.” Kathryn handed her the new wings back.

  “I sure will,” Casey said as she broke the first wings.

  Kathryn gently put her hands on Casey’s shoulders and turned her to face her. She opened a small box and took out her own first set of wings. She reached up to the area of Casey’s dress blue jacket, just above the rows of medals. Casey felt the warmth of Kathryn’s hands through her uniform shirt as Kathryn pinned on her wings. The wings felt substantial on her uniform jacket, and she understood the full weight of responsibility she now had.

  “Captain Tompkins, I am honored to present you with your wings. You are now officially an Air Force pilot.” Kathryn saluted her, Casey returned the salute, and they smiled, and hugged each other for a long time.

  “I’m so proud of you, Casey, and I love you so much,” Kathryn said into her ear.