Most Air Force aircraft come equipped with ejection seats. These seats have saved the lives of many pilots and navigators. These vital systems are maintained by Aircrew Egress Systems Repairmen and our hero is one of them. Introducing Sgt Rob Cole, US Air Force Egress Specialist, and longtime Bay County Resident. Rob was born in Teaneck, NJ and raised over the next ten years by his mom but without his dad who died in WWII. He was a bad kid, always getting into trouble, especially after setting fire to some cars and telephone booths! Mom finally had enough of it and moved them out of New Jersey to Pompano Beach, FL, eventually buying a dress shop in Cocoa Beach during his senior year in high school. 

 

Rob became a surfer and loved being near the water. After graduation though, Mom decided he needed to do something with his life other than surf. So, in Sep 1964 she told him he couldn’t stay with her anymore. Not knowing what else to do, Rob visited a recruiter and joined the Air Force before getting his draft letter. After Basic Training, Rob was shipped to Amarillo AFB, Texas for Egress Systems training. He was trained to work on any aircraft that had an ejection system. These systems had to function perfectly so if a pilot had to bail out due to engine failure, flight control malfunction, or battle damage, he had a good chance of surviving. It’s traditional that a pilot who survives ejection presents the technician who last worked on that seat with a bottle of VO Whiskey, a small gift for saving his life.

 

Rob’s first assignment was to Luke AFB in Phoenix working on F-100s, but his favorite was the A-1E Skyraider which had a unique ejection seat called the Yankee. The name is surprisingly appropriate because when the pilot decides to eject, first the canopy goes, then rockets fire behind the pilot, and strong cords attached to the rockets literally yank the pilot out. In 1967, Rob was sent to Pleiku Airfield, Vietnam to work on Skyraiders, and received many bottles of whiskey! He even spent two days in a foxhole during the Tet Offensive.

 

After 366 days, Rob left Vietnam and landed at Tyndall AFB for about four months before separating and moving to Ocala to stay with Mom. Now, Rob always had a passion for photography which started when he traded his 1931 Model A for a Graflex Speed Graphic Camera before joining the Air Force. He left Ocala for California to attend the Brooks Institute of Photography earning a Bachelor of Professional Arts. Right around graduation, he learned of a job at NSA PC for a degreed photographer. He got hired and spent the next 32 years in his dream job taking pictures for the Navy in the air, ground, and underwater, even becoming a certified diver. In 1976, Rob was visiting a friend who was working on a VW Bus when he met a pretty girl sitting in the front seat. He was hooked! Turned out she was his friend’s daughter, Pat. Two years later they eloped to Phoenix, and nobody knew.

 

After retiring from NSA in 2008, Rob worked for a contractor for 10 years as a photographer before retiring for good. Today, he specializes in drone photography, mostly for car shows. He is a car guy and proud owner of a cool 1962 Dodge Lancer GT. So, next time you see a drone above you at an outdoor event, just smile, wave to Rob, and say “Thanks for your service and welcome home!”