In this interview with Navy Fighter pilot and Top Gun Instructor, Kemo, listeners are taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Kemos energy is contagious as he shares his experiences of flying and training with the best of the best. He opens with this weeks ‘title story,’ a 1v1 Top Gun fight he won in spite of being in an inferior aircraft. 

Sadly, the theme of killing livestock continues this week when they found themselves late for a target time and pressing to make time on target doesn’t end so well for a bovine that happened to live too close to NAS Fallon. 

Later  a tragic incident where his wingman, Bluto’s jet blew up next to him and a hydraulic failure that forced him to return to the boat with his RIO, Chunx. In retrospect, Kemo is glad he was ignorant of the extremis he was in.

His time flying with the ‘Taco Guard’ ended by proving the adage, “If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong!” Kemo’s stories are funny and tragic. He describes, “a knife fight in a phone booth” which is eerily similar to the vertical spiral captured in TG-II Maverick.

When he was still a young J-G he was surprised to learn he would fly the sortie with ‘CAG’ in his backseat, and verified the adage, ‘It’s better to be lucky than good!’ The show concludes with Kemo’s description of the outtakes from ‘Speed & Angels’ which he’s grateful didn’t gain wider appeal whilst the statute of limitations hadn’t expired. Kemo’s energy and storytelling make for an engaging and memorable show.

Special thanks to Jordan Harbinger for the Podcast Swap with this show!