Buzz's Bedtime Stories

Today’s “Buzz’s Bedtime Stories” is a look at my initial experiences in the Clinton White House. A thread. #1. In the late 1990s, I was an Air Force pilot and Operations Officer for a C-141 squadron based at Travis Air Force Base, California. I was a single guy flying all over the world, sometimes in combat, and always with the American flag on my left shoulder. I had a squadron of really superb aircrews, the best I ever flew with. Great people, great mission, and successfully operating all over the world, whether combat, humanitarian aid, special operations. It was the greatest time of my life, personally and professionally, and I wouldn’t change a day. One morning I received a phone call in my office from the White House literally out of the blue. Initially I thought it was the guys down the hall screwing with me (military squadrons are like college fraternities; work really hard and play really hard), so I laughed and hung up. Immediately, the White House called me back and confirmed that they were, in fact, the White House. Chagrined, I took the second call and was quite a bit more respectful. In a matter of weeks I was jetting across the nation to interview at the White House to be the President of the United States Air Force Military Aide and carry the “Nuclear Football.” THE most important piece of luggage in the world, containing the means to launch nuclear weapons at the commander in chief’s order. It’s not a job you apply for. They find you. They found me, and they hired me. In the spring of 1996, I assumed my new responsibility and went to work for President William Jefferson Clinton.