In the Fleet
Tom's been everywhere. Almost. During his time on active duty in the Navy, he
came close to circling the world.
Of course, it all began right here, at Whiting Field outside Pensacola. Tom learned to fly
the T-28 here.
I know what you're thinking: Tom started in Pensacola. Well, yeah, but no. He started flying at
Whiting. That's what matters.
After he got his wings, Tom went to Jax to check out on the P-3.
After all that time in the sunny south, Tom was in serious danger of enjoying life. The Navy took care
of that by sending him to Maine. Here's an aerial shot of Brunswick Naval Air Station, where Tom joined VP-23.
Of course, there aren't many Soviet submarines in Maine, so Tom and the boys deployed to Iceland to find some.
Tom flew to the Azores. . .
Rota, Spain
. . .across the Med and Arabia to Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean.
From there it was just a short hop to Hong Kong.
No Navy pilot should miss Cubi Point in the Phillipines, home of the famous Cubi Specials.
Moffett Naval Air Station, California.
Remember that touching scene in
Top Gun? Where Maverick saves the day and is offered any
duty station in the world? And he wants to be an instructor at Top Gun? Well, it was kinda like
that when Tom wound up his tour at Brunswick. He wound up back at Jacksonville as an Instructor Pilot.
Actually, he was the Instructor Pilot's Instructor Pilot, making sure the other instructors knew their stuff.
