The 4,000-hour man: McGowan reaches milestone in Tweet

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 80th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs officer
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  His dreams of flying began when he was a 9-year-old Georgia boy on a peanut farm in 1970, watching aircraft from a nearby air force base take off and land.

Those dreams for Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Bo McGowan culminated in an accomplishment very few fighter pilots can claim - 4,000 flying hours in a single airframe. He reached that astonishing feat in the T-37 Tweet June 24 when he and student pilot 2nd Lt. John Andre taxied to a parking space at the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

"I tell ya, I'm pretty nostalgic today," the colonel said with a drawl that only comes from the Peach State. "I love flying these airplanes, I love flying for the Air Force and I love flying with students."

Colonel McGowan, always known as a gifted wordsmith who could bring tears to your eyes with laughter, was caught up in the moment as roughly 50 people amassed on the flight line to congratulate him. He called it a "great metaphor" about how much people at the wing care about each other and their accomplishments.

He used words like "passion," "drive" and "power" to define his desire to climb into the cockpit of an Air Force jet since April 9, 1984, when he completed flying training at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz. The colonel said his days of being a single-seat fighter pilot brought accolades, and at times, criticism based on performance.

But that changed in 1999 when he was assigned to Sheppard - his second stint at the wing - to train pilots in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. Instead of searching for recognition for himself, he looked to deflect it to the hundreds of student pilots he has since flown with.

"Their accomplishments drove me," he said, adding that seeing them go from college graduate to student pilot to an Air Force pilot and eventually to a combat pilot is the reward he looked for.

The day wasn't just about Colonel McGowan reaching his 4,000th flying hour - he has a total of 6,154.1 - in the Tweet. It was about the support and sacrifices made by his wife, Kelley, and his two daughters, Carson and Bailey.

"We're just really proud of him," Mrs. McGowan said. "We're proud he stuck with it."

The colonel's daughters did their share of congratulating him with the traditional dousing of water that accompanies a ceremony when a pilot reaches a milestone. They didn't disappoint anyone during this gathering of spectators as they drenched their father from head to toe before he ever stepped out of the aircraft.

"Incredible," Colonel McGowan said of his families support and appearance at the end of this special flight. "Although I'm gonna get them back."

The end of 2008 will see the end of two workhorses of the Air Force - the retirement of the T-37 and the retirement of perhaps the pilot with the most flying hours in the airframe. 

"I gave them 4,000 hours," he said of his service to the Air Force and NATO partners. "It's a great feeling."