KYHOOYA

Solid acronym-al advice

As a young man, fresh out of college, my dad joined the Air Force and went through flight school with the Undergraduate Pilot Training Class of 1965-C at Vance Air Force Base in beautiful Enid, Oklahoma.

If you are wondering where the hell Enid, Oklahoma is, rest assured that the residents of Enid are wondering the same thing.

Vance AFB is still in operation today, and they are still teaching young men and women to fly jets there. They do it in Enid, OK because when you are teaching young men and women how to fly jets, you really don’t want too much underneath those jets, and Enid fits that criteria perfectly. I guess that’s pretty much true for anywhere in Oklahoma, really… anyway…

The thing you might not know about undergraduate pilot training school is that it comes with a yearbook, just like high school. Can you imagine joining the Air Force, ready to see the world, soar above the clouds, and wreak havoc on evil communist pilots with your otherworldly dog fighting skills, and receiving your first big assignment…

“Smith!”

“Yes, sir!”

“44^th Fighter Squadron, The Vampires, Kadena Air Base, Japan.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Johnson!”

“Yes, sir!”

“58^th Fighter Squadron, The Gorillas, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Jones!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yearbook, Enid, Oklahoma.”

“Sorry, what?”

Here’s my dad’s 1965 flight school yearbook picture and quote, where he extolls the virtues of an Air Force education:

As stated in last week’s column, he was a funny guy.

Another thing you might not know about Air Force undergraduate pilot training school is that each class designs their own patch for their flight suits. So, the coolness of your class patch has absolutely nothing to do with your class’s ability to fly jets – instead it has everything to do with whether or not one of your classmates was an art major.

Here are a few examples of Vance AFB class patches from 1964 thru 68, courtesy of usmilitarypatches.com:

I guess if graphic design is your true passion, there’s really no reason you would end up in Enid, OK.

My dad’s class patch artwork is a little tough to decipher:

It’s a phantom pilot with Chester Cheetah legs, wearing one of those old-timey leather pilot’s caps with the ear flaps, controlling the stick with one leg, and a foot pedal or throttle with the other.

Like I said, all the art majors probably didn’t go directly to the Air Force…

For whatever it lacks in immediate image recognition, it more than makes up for with advice. The 65-C class added their motto to the patch – KYHOOYA.

KYHOOYA is an acronym they came up with, and they said it as one word – “Ky-hoo-ya” – when they toasted one another.

KYHOOYA was a constant reminder to the patch wearer and those around them of the number one rule to keep in mind when flying your plane – Keep Your Head Out Of Your Ass.

I’d say that quality advice extends to pretty much every aspect of life. If you can manage to KYHOOYA in everything you do, you’re going to be OK.

So, to the remaining members of the 65-C, thank you, gentlemen, for your service to our country! And thanks for the great advice.

I will continue to attempt to KMHOOMA as long as possible.

See you soon,

-Smidge

And now it’s time for everyone to weigh in on an important topic, in another rare ALL READER POLL…