Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Commander Jim 'Puck' Howe, whose distinguished aviation career included over 3,800 flying hours in the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet.In the final episodes about his time flying for the Navy, Puck talks about getting selected for command and going to VF-31 as the F-14 Tomcat was being transitioned out of service. We talk about the O-Club's place in fighter culture, and about Puck's love of Hallmark Christmas movies.

About Puck:Commander Howe was born in Grove City, PA. He graduatedfrom the United States Naval Academy in 1989, earning his B.S. in General Engineering. After selecting Tomcats following flight school, CDR Howe flew with VF-32, VF-101, VF-2, SFWSL, and VF/A-31.He is a graduate of the Strike Fighters Tactics Instructor (TOPGUN) course taught at the Naval Strike and Aviation Warfare Center (NSAWC), as well as the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course taught at Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron ONE (MAWTS-1).About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth 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.

Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Commander Jim 'Puck' Howe, whose distinguished aviation career included over 3,800 flying hours in the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet.In the third of four episodes about his time flying for the Navy, Puck talks about the immediate impact that 9/11 had on his flying career, and his participation in Task Force 20, the secretive first foray into Iraq.About Puck:Commander Howe was born in Grove City, PA. He graduatedfrom the United States Naval Academy in 1989, earning his B.S. inGeneral Engineering. After selecting Tomcats following flight school,CDR Howe flew with VF-32, VF-101, VF-2, SFWSL, and VF/A-31.He is a graduate of the Strike Fighters Tactics Instructor (TOPGUN)course taught at the Naval Strike and Aviation Warfare Center(NSAWC), as well as the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI)course taught at Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics SquadronONE (MAWTS-1).About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth 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.

Welcome to Cowboy Time at the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today, Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier and Beth Bailey discuss the story that gives the podcast its name.

We talk about John 'Yogi' Graham and the lore of aviation culture. To conclude, Beth reads 'The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living' in full.Calling all aviators - if you've got stories to share and can spin a good yarn about time spent in the cockpit of any platform (fighter or otherwise) we want to host you. Please reach out to bwbailey85@gmail.com

Find the original 'The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living' here: https://bwbailey85.medium.com/the-fighter-pilots-guide-to-living-48e044fdb435

About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by an F-14 RIO, which shaped the course of her life in a massive way. She 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/