Frederick 'Bad Fred' Lewis - Part I, Early Career, 1958-1967 - The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Rear Admiral Frederick ‘Bad Fred’ Lewis, who accumulated an incredible 6,500 accident-free flying hours in tactical aircraft and more than 1,200 carrier arrested landings in his flying career. Today's episode focuses on the first five years of Bad Fred's military career, from his time in the U.S. Naval Academy to a period as a Naval test pilot, and on to the first portion of his years spent flying the F-4 Phantom. The episode ends with Bad Fred's first deployment to Vietnam on the USS Forrestal, which ended with the devastating fire that killed 134 and left 161 injured.About Bad Fred:A 1962 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Bad Fred was designated a naval aviator in November 1963 and initially became a flight instructor before training on the F-4 Phantom in 1965. Bad Fred deployed throughout the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, as well as twice deploying to the Gulf of Tonkin to take part in combat missions in North Vietnam. He then attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1969, but in so doing missed the opportunity to be a Blue Angel. Following F-4 replacement pilot training, Bad Fred established the F-14 RAG in Oceana in 1974.Bad Fred went on to have multiple command assignments, and was in command of CAG 8 on the USS Nimitz when his pilots downed two Libyan fighter aircraft in the Gulf of Sidra in 1981. After inaugurating the “Super CAG” program and taking on several prestigious staff assignments in Washington D.C., Bad Fred was selected for promotion to Commander, eventually taking command of Carrier Group Four, at which time he also became qualified on rotary wing aircraft. Prior to retiring, Bad Fred stood up the Naval Doctrine Command as its Commander in 1993. Following retirement, Bad Fred was President of National Training and Simulation Association. He was formerly Chairman of the Tailhook Association, becoming part of a team that reconciled the Navy and the Tailhook Association in 2000. He has also served as President of the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviators Association, otherwise known as the Golden Eagles.About the host:Beth Bailey worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast. Follow Beth: on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwbailey85/ on X: https://x.com/BWBailey85 on Substack: https://substack.com/@bwbailey85 on the web: https://bethwbailey.com/