Colin O’Sullivan Interview
On Monday, August 9th, I had the honor of speaking with Mr. Colin O’Sullivan. Mr. O’Sullivan currently serves in the United States Air Force in the 125th Fighter Wing. He is currently a Crew Chief on the F-15s based in Jacksonville, Florida. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Joshua Kupietzky: What's your background in aviation?
Colin O'Sullivan: I am 21 years old right now, finishing up my degree at Embry-Riddle with a bachelor in aeronautics and a minor in management. Up to this point, I have obtained my commercial pilot’s license and instrument rating, and I am going to be graduating from [Embry-]Riddle [Aeronautical University] this November and I did my flight training through Riddle. With that, my plan of action is to commission with the Air Force [and] hopefully obtain a C-17 spot or a C-130 spot, something heavy, and then also go into the airline [field] shortly afterwards. Regarding my experience in the military so far, I joined when I was 17, while still in high school. I was going to high school in Connecticut and I joined a unit in Jacksonville, Florida, so I would be able to use some funding from Florida to help me pay for Riddle because it is in the same state. So I was doing my drill weekends and then I graduated [from] my high school earlier in order to go to my technical training essentially as soon as possible. So I did that and went to my technical training, our basic first obviously then my technical training to be a Crew Chief on the F-15s. So I have been doing that for a little bit of time here, as I mentioned, since I was 17 [so] I will be hitting my four-year mark in a couple of months here in December. In terms of deployments or anything like that, it has not been too crazy. I will be going on my first deployment in a month or so, but besides that, it’s mostly been pretty standard. I did my 90 days of seasoning essentially, so that is when, as soon as I finished training over in Texas and North Carolina when I got back to my unit, they kept me on active duty orders just so I could get acclimated with the SOP [standard operating procedure] essentially and the way of life, I guess, for my unit.
JK: Do you know where your deployment is?
CO: I am not exactly sure to be honest with you, but I think it is in the United States.
JK: As a Crew Chief what is your job for the F-15?
CO: As a Crew Chief, we are kind of the jack-of-all-spades, jack-of-all-trades, I should say. So, as you may be familiar, there are quite a few different shops—that are what we call them in the military. For instance, electric shop, machine shop, hydraulic shop. Essentially, different sections of the work environment. So, our job as Crew Chiefs is to kind of oversee everything that happens with the aircraft. To be quite technical, there is a phase doc Crew Chief and then a flight line Crew Chief, so the ones doing heavy maintenance coordinate all the maintenance. Let's say an aircraft needs to have a landing gear replaced, we would be responsible for the phase doc aspect. We would be responsible for making sure that gets done and also doing whatever we need to do with the jet that is part of our responsibilities. Now, on the flight line side of things, those are the individuals launching the jet, essentially helping the pilots get into their seat, taking the ladders up and down, doing that kind of deal. For instance, if there was an issue as well, we would be responsible from talking with the pilot [and] figuring out what needs to be done, for instance, if there were a hydraulic issue. If we can’t diagnose it, we call out the specialists essentially, so the hydraulic shop would be the people we would call. Overall, it is a very nice way of kind of getting familiar with the aircraft. My objective in joining [the Air Force] originally was just to get myself into the military and also utilize benefits. As I mentioned before, I want to be a military pilot. That’s been one of my goals since day one. So I have talked with leadership and we are currently in the works of making that happen, but overall it has been very good, especially with my flight training. I have been able to learn a lot on the maintenance side of things, so it is what you make of it, right? So quite a bit of information, and I have taken a lot from it.
JK: Why did you choose to enlist in the Air Force?
CO: I have a lot of family in the Air Force and in the military in general. So I have kind of been raised and tailored to believe that the Air Force was the best. And I essentially took it for granted up until my mid-teenage years when I started developing a taste for what I actually want to do in my life and looking at the benefits, especially from being a pilot. The Air Force has the most pilot opportunities I would say. When trying to work as a commercial airline pilot along with working in the military, you want to utilize both experiences to the max, both sides of it essentially. With the Air Force, you are able to utilize that time far superior to the Navy or Army or even to the Marines in some cases. Then, it also comes down to the mission steps. For instance, I am in New York right now and the closest unit to me actually flies down to Antarctica and does scientific support missions. So they are bringing down scientists, equipment, all that kind of deal, and you are not going to see that in any other branch, let alone [another] unit in the Air Force. So doing that kind of thing, not so much of a combat role for me, as a heavy pilot or soon-to-be heavy pilot hopefully. Those kinds of traits and the reason behind joining the Air National Guard as in contrast to the active duty or even to the reserve side is [that] it is moreso a family lifestyle essentially. So where[as] in the reserves, they can pick you up and move you, you can be activated at a much shorter notice, and those activations could be anywhere, anywhere they need you in the country. On active duty, it would be very difficult to do, if not impossible, to try to be a commercial airline pilot, so I crossed that one out. So that is where the Guard comes in. There was a number of hurricanes that have hit Florida in the recent couple of years. Nothing too big. For instance, for Hurricane Sandy, I believe it was tasked to go assist with that. So [on the] Guard side, you are being funded by the state, so you're responsible for state missions moreso. I love interacting with the community and helping out everyone around me, so it is very good in terms of that.
JK: What jobs do you have in the Air National Guard?
CO: I am not flying quite yet. I am only on the maintenance side of things. So I joined as I mentioned in 2017 as a Crew Chief on the F-15s, so that is strictly maintenance. So no flying involved. Now, in some different units with larger aircraft, for instance, C-17, C-130, they have flying Crew Chiefs. Let's say a C-17 is going over to Ramstein [Air Base in] Germany, for example, they are going to take a Crew Chief with them so that would be a flying Crew Chief. But in terms of my unit with the F-15s, no, there is no flying involved. I mean, if we get deployed somewhere, we just take a C-130 or C-17 or even commercial in some cases, but in terms of what I do for work, there is no flying involved.
JK: Do you do maintenance on any other aircraft types besides for the F-15?
CO: So when you join a unit, each squadron essentially is going to have one aircraft type—each wing, which is what each base is called. So I am part of the 125th Fighter Wing, and with that, we have the 125th Fighter Squadron, essentially, 159th is what we use and that one unit has one aircraft type. Now, that is not the same for all units. For instance, [in] Hawaii, their one unit has three different aircraft squadrons. But each squadron has its own aircraft type essentially. So they [Hawaii] have F-22, C-17s, and the KC-135s. Typically, for the Guard or reserve, each unit is only going to have one aircraft, just because of funding, missions, et cetera. But regarding the aircraft I work on, we typically stick to our own aircraft obviously; however, if other aircraft are visiting, we can help out. For example, if the unit needs to go to us, which has happened before, we had F-35s work out of our airport for a little bit because their airport had an air shut going on I believe. So we were responsible for helping out with that, and then, let’s just say you want to switch bases or move someone, and there is an F-16 or F-22 base. While I have personally not done that, it is definitely possible to say the least. All you would have to do is different training essentially because you have already been trained as a Crew Chief. It is just more so the specifics that you need to go get training on before. For the most part, you stick to the aircraft you are trained on and then you go from there if you want to change it up or whatever.
JK: How long was your training?
CO: Each aircraft is going to be a little different. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit between schools, especially if it is backed up. I finished my training in 2019. So I finished basic [training] on November 23rd and I had a week off so I was hanging out with my family in Texas and then I went to technical training which was in Shepard Air Force Base [in] Wichita Falls. I would say almost all maintenance personnel go to this location. It is about an hour and a half northwest of Dallas, and that is where the different buildings correspond to what you are doing. For instance there was a building/hanger essentially for our Crew Chiefs. So all Crew Chiefs in the Air Force—active duty, Guard, or reserve—would go through this one location. Next to this building, there is, let's say, avionics. So all the avionics personnel would go through that and in the beginning there is a course called “fundies”—which is fundamentals—and that's where it is more open, more broad, essentially. So just teaching you the Air Force way of life, basics, things about your job. I don't really know how long that one was, per se, but continuing on from November to March or so, I was in Texas and Seymour Johnson [Air Force Base]. So I went to Seymour Johnson in North Carolina for a little bit of time where we did “hot” training. So in Texas, you are not working on any live aircraft. It is all static essentially, so it is not crazy or anything like that. However, obviously, being trained on your job with live aircraft is important, so usually there is a hands-on training which is what “hot” stands for. So I did that at Seymour Johnson, and for me, it was actually kind of funny. Just due to the timing, I was the only person in my course and we got done very quickly, obviously. With that, from November to May, I was done with everything, so [it took] just around six months for me personally. Once again, it is going to change depending on the job and the school dates and all that. Speaking generally, it is going to be less than a year I would say.
JK: What is your squadron's mission?
CO: So, my unit, we are responsible for maintaining a couple of aircraft for alert. So for intense 911, the aircraft that were scrambled essentially out of Langley Air Force Base and a couple of other places, those aircraft were on alert. So looking at aircraft by Washington D.C., the F-16s at Andrews [Air Force Base], there is an alert squadron there, so 24/7 there are a couple of aircraft ready to go at a moment's notice. Let's say there was an emergency or someone was breaking a TFR [Temporary Flight Restriction], that would be a situation where those aircraft would essentially be scrambled and they would go intercept. So my unit has an attachment down in Homestead which is just south of Miami, so we maintain a couple of aircraft there for essentially air defense. So if there was a threat or something coming up in the southeast region of the United States, we would be activated for that and our aircraft would essentially go and fight. Now, [for] the aircraft we have at Jacksonville, we don't really have a mission there now. The aircraft are mostly used for training and for making sure the aircraft down in Homestead are efficient and ready to go. For instance, if one of those aircraft breaks or needs certain maintenance done, we swap them out essentially. With that being said, there are times with deployments like I mentioned before, so if we are not needing to train or sit at home and there is a mission for us, we would obviously go and deploy for that. Just something different.
JK: Besides Jacksonville, where else have you been based?
CO: So I go down to Jacksonville, but it is pretty to switch bases and it comes down to a couple of factors. For example, in Florida right now, on the enlisted side, it is very difficult to switch bases just because of the demand of people and there is kind of a shortage essentially. But in a perfect world, you would be able to switch bases essentially and it shouldn't be an issue. I personally haven’t. I am looking to commission up, as I mentioned before, so I am in the process of applying to units and I would just transfer units essentially once I secured a job somewhere else.
JK: What aircraft are you hoping to fly for the Air Force?
CO: Honestly, at this point, I would be happy with anything, but if I had a choice, it would probably be C-17s. Looking at the general missions for them along with the avionics systems in there, if you want to have the best kind of matching essentially with the commercial world. So if you compare a United 737 or United 767 to a C-17, it would be pretty standard in terms of a somewhat mid-layer, mid-level glass cockpit and then analog. C-130s are not as modern as you think, so as much as I like them, they are slower and they serve on the shorter range of missions where C-17s have a longer range, they are more up to date, and they are more practical in terms of airline applicability to say the least. At the same time, it is what you make of it. While some units and some aircraft are deemed as bad, there is always a positive side to them. So like the KC-135, as much as I don't want to be flying circles around, for example, there is always a positive side. You know, you’re getting hours, you’re getting experience on the aircraft, which is important.
JK: When will you start training to fly those aircraft?
CO: Right now, I am just waiting to hear back from units that I have applied to. So that can be anywhere from tomorrow [onward]. Usually it takes a little bit of time especially with the backlog for OTS, which is Officer Training School, so often commissioned that way. From three months to whenever, essentially that is what I would guess. Nothing too crazy.
JK: When would you switch from being a military pilot to being a commercial pilot?
CO: Have you heard of the Aviate Program? So I am in that now, working with my coach essentially that has been assigned to me through the program, I am looking to transition to United assuming I meet the requirements by 2024 and I would be United mainline so it is kind of a big deal. Optimistic, but once again, a certain number of things need to happen before that obviously. Whether that be flying for regional, getting that experience built up. It is all important and needs to happen.
JK: When you make the switch to commercial, is there a certain aircraft you want to fly for United?
CO: Well, looking at the aircraft they have in their mainline fleet, it would be most likely that I would get switched on to the 737 or A320. Realistically speaking, it would be nice to go into a larger aircraft just because I like the 757, for example, but honestly speaking, that would be kind of difficult coming in and not having any United experience, for example. And it also comes down to what you can hold with your low seniority and where you want to be based on all that. So a lot of factors play into the situation.
JK: Once you become a pilot in the Air Force would you also be able to fly for the National Guard?
CO: Correct, I will be able to. Because for the National Guard, the minimum commitment you are required to have is one weekend per month, which is great. So you can plan your airline schedule, you can trade trips around that, and you get your schedule roughly a year in advance, which is great. So you are able to use that to your advantage and make it easy essentially. So those weekends, you would be flying or maintaining currency or doing whatever at the same time, which is kind of cool. Let's say you have a week off from the airlines and you want to go fly for the National Guard, you just communicate that and if there are any trips you can get on, you would be more likely to get on those than not with the heavy side of aircraft which is great. Another cool thing with the military, especially with the National Guard, is what happens if there is another COVID pandemic or something happens regarding that. All you do essentially is you go active duty or you go AGR [Active Guard Reserve], so you just go from part-time National Guard to full-time and then you have a full-time job, with good pay, too, [which] works great.
