I spent 20 years flying combat missions from Desert Storm to my final sorties over Afghanistan. The core challenge of high-stakes flying, as I saw it, was the necessary transition from hours of routine that surround moments of critical decisions and intense action. Success in that environment relies on a specific mindset. I am often asked what I relied on most in combat. Training. In combat, everything is changing moment by moment. It is training that enables you to make the best decisions you can when you need to make them, leading to overall success.
The Physical and Psychological Edge
Flying a fighter is fundamentally an athletic activity. It requires physical resilience to withstand the G-forces and reaction times. As I got older, my experience had to compensate for my slowing reactions. This athletic requirement underpins the need for continuous, rigorous training.
When the action gets intense, I cannot let my emotions get the better of me. My training is what kicks in to carry me through the moment. Training keeps me focused in the moment to make the best decision I can at the time. This is a crucial lesson for any organizational leader: you must do the work before the event happens, or you will simply be reacting, not leading.
The Core Motivation: Don't Let the Team Down
Another question I often get is, "What is the strongest emotion in the cockpit?" If I have trained appropriately, it’s not fear or excitement. It is the overwhelming pressure of not wanting to let others down. That weight of responsibility is huge.
I may be the final person in a long chain of effort:
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The maintenance crews that worked on my jet.
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The loaders who secured my weapons.
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The planners who designed the mission.
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The air battle managers who are coordinating it all.
- The troops in contact.
All of their contributions enable my ability to execute the mission correctly and legally. The weight of responsibility and the desire to honor the work of the entire team are what drive me to stick to the plan and rely on my training.
The Split-Second Moral Call
This "best decision in the moment" stuff has real consequences. In combat, I faced split-second moral decisions guided by the international laws of armed conflict. Even with the legal, moral, and emotional pressure to complete a mission everyone has worked toward, I had to be ready to divert a weapon or abort an attack if non-combatants appeared.
This ethical burden taught me a lifelong lesson: my motivations must be just, and I train for that so I am ready at that moment of decision. I don't always have the time to weigh the pros and cons of options. Often it is only when the mission is over, and I am away from the fight, that I can evaluate, "Did I make the right decision at the time with the information I had?" If I can say, "Yes", that is defensible, regardless of the outcome. My training with my principles becomes the measure of success, not the outcome I often don't control.
