As I mentioned in my brief biography, I spent two decades as a Naval Aviator beginning in the Vietnam War era. I never fought in Vietnam. I spent my entire career in the Antisubmarine Warfare community, first in helicopters on active duty, then in maritime patrol aircraft in the Navy Reserve. During that time, I had several incidents that could have killed me, but didn’t. The lessons I learned from those incidents became sea stories to tell other aviators at the bar. Hearing someone else’s near-death experience is a lot safer to learn from than experiencing it yourself. Here’s a link to my story.