I think you badly misunderstood my point. I’ve been on missions where we called in air support, and I’m not criticizing pilots in any way. What I’m saying is that being a pilot (or being a tanker like I was, or a dedicated Humvee-mounted soldier like I was) requires less physical effort. I’ve served in several capacities in the military, and by far the most physically demanding work was when I was attached to infantry units.

I’m not denigrating your service or dedication as a pilot, nor my own service on a convoy escort team. I’m saying our jobs were physically easier than infantry, and I think you’d agree with that.

Thanks for your comment, and your service.

I am a 7 tour combat vet with 3 Purple Hearts. I ended my last tour in combat arms in 2004 when I was wounded so severely, they told me I can’t perform my job anymore. Up to that point, I had been in the thick of things in Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Iraq. After I was wounded the last time, the doctors looked at me and told me that I could never function in my intended role ever again. I would never roam the streets of Baghdad again, getting in random shootouts with bad guys, participate in raids or search another home again. So, I became a pilot. Let me tell you, it was the best decision I ever made. Somehow, even though I wasn’t qualified to be a 19K40HA8 anymore, I could fly an aircraft. So, I became an Apache pilot instead and did another 3 tours in combat. If you think pilots don’t lay it out on the line, you are naive. I have been in more engagements as a pilot than I ever was as a ground guy. Who do the ground guys call when the shit hits the fan? The cooks? The PAC clerks? No. They call the Apaches, and to lump pilots in with the REMFs is insulting.

Eric W. Pope