Graduation Day!
After many months of studying and many flights in the T-37 and the T-43, graduation day from US Air Force Undergraduate Navigator Training had finally arrived. From left to right is my dad (also retired Air Force), my mom, my sister Leann, myself, my now ex-wife Linda, and my maternal grandmother.
After graduation, I went on to further training for my position as a Weapons Systems Officer on the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II. I was in one of the last classes of what produced a "Universally Trained Navigator". That means that even though it was known before I started any training that I would be a WSO on the F-4D with my Air National Guard unit, I still learned to shoot celestial navigation and other forms of navigation that was not used in the F-4. The Air Force then changed the training and called it Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training and for those student navs that were selected to go to flighter and attack aircraft, the course syllabus was changed and they were not required to learn celestial navigation.
For more information on the duties of a WSO, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_Systems_Officer
The US Air Force is phasing out the Weapons Systems Officer/Electronics Warfare Officer designations and replacing them with the designation of Combat Systems Officer (CSO). For more information on the CSO position, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Systems_Officer
For more information on the F-4 Phantom, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-4_Phantom_II
Three years after graduation from UNT, I converted to the dark side when I graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training-Helicopter and it was all down hill from there!
This is a scan and crop from a 3 1/2" by 5" photo, so the image quality is what it is. In case you can't tell by the hair styles and clothing this was in the mid-80's...1985 to be exact.
Camera: Canon T70
Lens: Canon FD 50mm f/1.4
Exposure: Not Noted
Film: Kodak VPS Professional
Scanner: Epson V750-M Pro
This image is © Douglas Bawden Photography, please do not use without prior permission.
Enjoy my photos and please feel free to comment. The only thing that I ask is no large or flashy graphics in the comments.
Graduation Day!
After many months of studying and many flights in the T-37 and the T-43, graduation day from US Air Force Undergraduate Navigator Training had finally arrived. From left to right is my dad (also retired Air Force), my mom, my sister Leann, myself, my now ex-wife Linda, and my maternal grandmother.
After graduation, I went on to further training for my position as a Weapons Systems Officer on the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II. I was in one of the last classes of what produced a "Universally Trained Navigator". That means that even though it was known before I started any training that I would be a WSO on the F-4D with my Air National Guard unit, I still learned to shoot celestial navigation and other forms of navigation that was not used in the F-4. The Air Force then changed the training and called it Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training and for those student navs that were selected to go to flighter and attack aircraft, the course syllabus was changed and they were not required to learn celestial navigation.
For more information on the duties of a WSO, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_Systems_Officer
The US Air Force is phasing out the Weapons Systems Officer/Electronics Warfare Officer designations and replacing them with the designation of Combat Systems Officer (CSO). For more information on the CSO position, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Systems_Officer
For more information on the F-4 Phantom, please click on the following link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-4_Phantom_II
Three years after graduation from UNT, I converted to the dark side when I graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training-Helicopter and it was all down hill from there!
This is a scan and crop from a 3 1/2" by 5" photo, so the image quality is what it is. In case you can't tell by the hair styles and clothing this was in the mid-80's...1985 to be exact.
Camera: Canon T70
Lens: Canon FD 50mm f/1.4
Exposure: Not Noted
Film: Kodak VPS Professional
Scanner: Epson V750-M Pro
This image is © Douglas Bawden Photography, please do not use without prior permission.
Enjoy my photos and please feel free to comment. The only thing that I ask is no large or flashy graphics in the comments.