At the age of 25, I was sent straight from my F/A-18 training squadron to a forward deployed squadron aboard the USS Nimitz.
The fastest way to build a reputation as the New Guy is safe and predictable carrier landings. The fastest way to be put on notice is to suck behind the boat.
Within 2 weeks, I was solidly in the latter category. I struggled deeply, especially with night landings.
At first, I kept catching the “one-wire,” meaning I was too low when crossing the back of the ship.
Then, in later flights, to compensate, I started “boltering” a lot – meaning I’d put on too much power at the end, fly too high, and miss all the wires completely. Then I’d have to circle around for another attempt.
There was one night where I went around 5 times before finally catching a wire and landing. I expended so much fuel in doing so I had to hit the airborne tanker to refuel about halfway through.
I was ranked 98 out of 99 pilots in the AirWing after my first six weeks.
I was on notice. Whenever I came in to land, all the senior aviators aboard the ship nervously watched to see what would happen.
Then the bottom fell out. One night I landed the first time – but caught another one-wire. Over the common carrier frequency came the Voice of God. This was incredibly rare – the carrier CO never interrupted carrier ops.
“Son, I can’t have you landing like that aboard my ship.”
I was petrified – and what little confidence I had was destroyed. As I taxied off the landing area and was waiting for the plane to be chained to the deck, in the pitch black, I let my guard down and accidentally released the brakes. I almost ran over the plane captain – and was only saved because my back-seater screamed “brakes!” to me.
When I returned to the ready room, I got reamed out by my squadron CO. I was benched.
Those were the two longest days of my Navy career. I didn’t know if I would cut it. I saw no way out.
Then the skipper sent me back up. I was terrified – but he knew the only way to get confidence back was to Do the Hard Thing.
Again and again. And again.
Eventually, I figured it out. I was never better than middle of the pack in landing grades – but I was safe and predictable. I also found other areas to excel in, like air-to-air tactics.
This dark period in my life gave me a deep understanding of grit and resilience.
In conversations with founders, I now know what to look for in how people respond to challenging situations. How one responds in dark moments – and which people believed in them enough to give them another shot.
I also now have a desire to seek out the hard moments to walk beside high potential folks who hit the inevitable roadblocks in life.
It’s in the those moments where thought partnership matters most – and where being there matters most.
Do Hard Things. Keep moving forward.
You will figure this out.