David's Fini Flight Celebration and Katie's Dad
I love being a part of a career field with a rich history of tradition. It adds a certain gravitas to those days where everything is feeling mundane. One of aircrew's traditions is the "Fini Flight," which marks a squadron-member's last flight in the aircraft before leaving the squadron. The rest of the squadron waits until the plane lands and meets the member either at the aircraft or at the squadron to greet them and congratulate them. You can't forget to mention that we douse them in champagne and buckets of water as well. It's a memorable farewell to valued members of our unit.
Last week we had the pleasure of celebrating my friend David's Fini Flight with him. I'll be extremely sad to see such an outstanding Airman leave the Air Force but I'm excited to see what the future holds for him. David, it's been a pleasure and an honor working with you. Thanks for always putting the core value "Excellence in all we do" into practice every day and demonstrating what it means to do things the right way. You will be missed.
In a similar vein as the previous post, history and tradition often have a way of transcending generations in the military, specifically within military families. One of my best friends, Katie, is not only in the Air Force herself but she was a military brat growing up and her dad is still in the Air Force as well! We had the honor of seeing him again, or meeting him for the first time for some of our friends, when he came TDY to our base for a short mission. Mr. Nelson, it was a pleasure seeing you again, I hope you have a safe trip back!
