I think it's interesting my first combat experience
was the first Gulf War.
That was probably the most risky in terms
of in the Tornado force.
We did lose a significant number of aircraft during the war.
At that stage in my life,
as a junior pilot with no ties,
in many ways it was the time of my life
and what I joined the Air Force to do was fly in combat.
So, I wasn't concerned about personal safety,
but I was anxious and I think my anxiety
was knowing whether I would be able to do the job.
And if you're a pilot the thing I think
that you're more concerned about than anything else is,
are you gonna screw up or not.
So, I was really worried for the first few trips about,
am I gonna screw up?
Am I going to make a mistake with one of the switches?
Am I going to be able to drop my weapons
in the right place on time?
Am I going to let everybody down?
So that's what I was scared about.
If you like rather than anything else.
It was only later on in the war,
after probably five or six combat missions
when I knew that I could do it all,
but actually I had a bit more time to sort of look around
and start being concerned about what was happening
and the fact that we were losing aircraft.
