Michael Lewis

Does anyone remember that the Apollo mission landed on the moon during our first week at Columbus in July 1969? Go see Men in Black 3 for a trip back in time to that very week. My first career choice at that point in my life was to become an astronaut, but alas, within a few weeks of the moon landing the media was reporting talk of phasing down the program. I could see great difficulty in proving I had the right stuff especially for a shrinking program, so one Sunday morning about halfway through the T-37 program I woke up very early with a bad headache and decided to go to law school. The weekend headaches persisted all through pilot training, but I had a new career choice.

Michael T. Lewis — “Straight Arrow”

“When Mike started pilot training, he didn’t know a pitot tube from a toilet seat. He had that bubbling spirit and he studies. It was just that seemingly everything he touched turned brown…

…Mike focused his energies on more productive pastimes, like learning how to fly formation lead. After trying all the techniques, he settled on a combination which can be summed up succinctly in three words, ‘Screw the wingman.’ Yes, Straight Arrow has obviously come a long way. He’s now definite about the difference between a pitot tube and a toilet seat; but hey fellas, what is that stab aug for anyway?”

71-01 Yearbook, page 42.