We’ve experienced a lot of bad news — worse than usual, frankly — in the past week.
But the week before, I saw some of the best of America when my son-in-law, Lt. J.G. Andrew Robinson, graduated from U.S. Navy flight training at Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.
Andy and my youngest daughter, Emily, moved to Florida shortly after getting married in 2014. He has spent most of the last two years training to be a helicopter pilot. That included ground school and fixed-wing aircraft flight training. Then Andy learned, I thought, everything there is to know about flying a helicopter.
But I’m told there will be more training when he moves to his next duty station in Norfolk, Virginia. There he will hone his skills on the MH-60S before he begins flying regular missions with the fleet.
Andy’s graduating class of 11 was unusual — so unusual, in fact, that it was mentioned a few times — in that it was all males and all Navy pilots. There is a growing number of female pilots in all branches of the service. And helicopter pilots from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard and allied nations also train at Whiting Field.
A few of the graduates were, like Andy, graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy. But they all had much in common. They all struck me as focused, intelligent and dedicated to the job they have taken on. They were also unfailingly polite, but not averse to having a good time.
Emily seems to be enjoying her life as a Navy wife. She and Andy started dating while they were in college and it didn’t take her long to start using Navy jargon. She even bristles when I include “Beat Navy” in every conversation around the time of the annual Army-Navy football game.
This being the military, there was much tradition and ceremony surrounding the awarding of the wings.
On my first day in Florida, I attended a ceremony where the aviators received their “soft patch” wings. This is a leather wings insignia that is worn on the flight suit.
This was a very informal event. Before receiving his wings patch, each aviator had to sit in front of the assembly and listen to a flight instructor tell an embarrassing story about an incident during training. Fortunately, as far as I can tell, no government property was irreparably damaged during this training cycle.
The next day began with breakfast at Emily and Andy’s house for all of the family and friends who came for the winging.
Next was a “blessing of the wings” ceremony at the base chapel. This was presided over by an entertaining chaplain who called Andy his “brother from another mother.” I’m still waiting to hear the backstory on that.
Next was the long-awaited winging ceremony. Again, this was an informal ceremony by military standards. Families were encouraged to cheer and take photos, and babies were given permission to cry.
Family was a major theme during the ceremony. The speaker was Rear Adm. Kyle Cozad whose son received his wings at the ceremony. The Cozads are both Navy alumni and helicopter pilots. That’s also true of Andy and his father.
Andy’s grandparents were at the ceremony, too. Both of his grandfathers flew in the Vietnam War. His paternal grandfather was an Army helicopter pilot and retired as a major general. (The Navy made a bit of a fuss over him.) His maternal grandfather was a Marine fighter pilot. He gave Andy his “wings of gold” to be pinned on by Emily during the winging ceremony.
You can’t go anywhere in the world without finding a Greenwood connection. Winging weekend was no exception.
Those attending the winging ceremony included friends from the church Emily and Andy attend in Pensacola, St. Andrew Orthodox Church.
One of those friends is Aspasia Bokas, who grew up in Greenwood. She said that her family’s home was on Market Street. The family owned a restaurant, the Alice Cafe, which was located on Howard Street.
After Bokas graduated from Millsaps College in the mid 1950s, she took a job in Pensacola. She got married and has lived there ever since.
Greenwood gave her and Emily plenty to talk about after they met at church. Not that Emily has ever had trouble talking to anybody about anything.
Winging weekend left me proud and grateful that we have men and women of all ranks and in all services who are willing to dedicate their lives to keeping our nation safe.
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
