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The Wingmen are a duo that constitute a team. Through our work and life experiences your two “favorite wingmen”, have been members of other teams whose mission required full participation and cooperation from all members to achieve a goal.

Although years apart, we both had the distinct honor of being selected to attend Navy Basic Jet training in remote parts of the United States that were nothing like living in the world of New York City.

Facing a variety of challenges, ranging from coping with a fast-paced and rigorous flight training environment, to facing instances of racial hostility, both wingmen had to insulate themselves from any and all outside forces and distractions that would interfere with them becoming full fledged Naval Aviators.

Although, they have been retired from the American arsenal of firepower, the A-6 and A-7 aircraft were mainstays of carrier aviation and power projection ashore. It was an honor to fly those vintage aircraft on land and especially at sea. As Commander Drew always says…..”there are only two types of pilots, those who land on aircraft carriers and those who wish they could”.

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The phrase, “float like a butterfly….sting like a bee”, is touted as the second most recognized saying in the modern world, courtesy of Drew Bundini Brown and espoused publicly by his protégé, Muhammad Ali.

Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida was touted as the Cradle of Naval Aviation to legions of Navy pilots for almost seventy years. This indoctrination into this specialized branch of the U.S. military is unique to the piloting world, and perhaps best illustrated in the blockbuster movie, “An Officer and a Gentlemen”. Even though the filmmakers took great literary license in making a compelling video by skewing reality, they managed to capture some of the essential elements of the experience faced by Dr. Paul and Commander Drew.

What is a Poopie? The short answer is, “the lowest form of life known to man”, that is according to our U.S. Marine Corps drill instructors. As a Poopie, long before he became Commander Drew, this somewhat carefree native New Yorker was molded into a Naval Officer who stood ramrod straight and learned to pay particular attention to detail in all aspects of life.

One of the most interesting aspects of water survival training is the ability to extricate oneself from a submerged aircraft. The Dilbert Dunker for fixed wing airplanes and its close cousin, the helo-Dunker for helicopters, are the contraptions used for this lifesaving training, a maneuver which no one ever wants to do in real life.

At the completion of Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School and official commissioning as a Navy Ensign, it was common practice to present one’s Marine Corps Drill Instructor with a single silver dollar as an expression of gratitude for the life-changing training provided by this unrelenting task master. Commander Drew’s transformation was so dramatic he, give his Drill Instructor not one, but two silver dollars; one for himself and another in the memory of his father, long before Drew-senior came up with his famous quote.

After becoming a Naval Officer, actual flight school became another type of initial training, that could be as tough as what had been done on the ground. This “boot camp in the air” was significantly tougher than the indoctrination from the drill instructors on dry land. This was particularly true for those who had no prior flying experience. The intensity of the flight training required combinations of intellect, toughness and perseverance, all of which would be rigorously tested before flying solo….and most especially in preparation for the ultimate test of a new Navy Pilot…..landing on a floating ship at sea, which was the culmination of everything that had been done leading up to this seminal event.

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Perhaps the author Hailey Edwards put it best,

“I do believe that sometimes—whether it's fate or accidental – we cross paths with someone who shatters us on a fundamental level and remakes us into a better version of ourselves.”

To commemorate our two hundredth podcast your wingmen decided to give some background about who they are and how they came to be what they are today. The vision of the show was from the mind of Commander Drew Brown who saw a need to present positive sides of life that seem to be missing from all forms of media. Countering the mantra of media outlets who go by the saying, “if it bleeds, it leads”, his vision was to highlight a world where good things happen to good people, because of good people. He recruited the one and only Dr. Paul Thompson, someone who he had known for years and rather surprisingly had quite a few things in common despite only meeting each other in adulthood. In this broadcast we discuss a wide range of commonalities as well as differences that make up our lives.

Some things happen by chance; maybe it’s just fate. This show highlights some of the similarities and differences between the two of us. Serendipity refers to the joyful or fortunate discovery of something valuable or significant that happens unexpectedly. That is one way to describe our motivations and our relationship to our families, the world of aviation and each other.

The goal of the show is to inspire people to be better people and in turn, inspire others to do the same. Whether you are rich and famous or broke and insecure, as human beings we have a common destiny. Let’s make the most of the life we have.