Page 136 - Never Fly Solo

ABORT! ABORT! | 109
places with me because it means he’ll be home a whole day
earlier—and he won’t have to sit sideways for thirty-five hun-
dred miles. My decision to abort, it turns out, delays the mis-
sion by only one hour, and the ferry flight home to Shaw
winds up being a success.

U U U

That night, I pondered my decision to abort the mission. At
first, I thought of myself as a total failure. I felt ashamed in
some strange way. I was disappointed that I gave in to my fear
for the first time in my career. What is wrong with me? I
thought. How could I be so weak?
I called my twin brother, Dave, and my parents. I had to
get this off my chest. “Did I do the right thing, guys? Did I
mess up?” They were very supportive and helped me see the
benefit of my decision. After a few days of deep reflection and
feedback from some of my trusted friends, I finally realized I
had made the right decision.
The lessons I learned that day changed the way I look at
quitting, for the rest of my life.

MAKING A GO/NO-GO DECISION

Through sixty-five combat missions and eleven years of inten-
sive Air Force flying, that flight from Spain to the United
States was the only one I ever aborted out of fear. I should be
proud of that fact, but for years I thought I was a failure
because I quit that day. It has taken me a lot of self-reflection
and life experience to finally understand that there is a time
and a place to quit, and quit honorably. It’s what I want to