Yesterday I finished my instrument checkride. I’m once again technically qualified to fly an F-16C/D wherever I might need to go. I won’t have another hurdle like that until my mission checkride, which ought to take place in late July or early August.
After flying yesterday, and in a strange twist of small-worldness, some of my flying buddies and I went to a restaurant on Bell Avenue near Arrowhead Mall last night. A group of Airmen from my previous assignment had been TDY to Gila Bend (Luke’s auxilliary field near the Barry Goldwater Range) to practice coordinating/controlling close air support. They all showed up at the same restaurant! It was good to see them again. The chances of unexpectedly running into old friends is probably my second-favorite aspect about the Air Force.