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Nearly 60 years ago, Vietnam-era forward air controllers arrived at Hurlburt Field, Florida to train how to coordinate air-to-ground strikes ahead of shipping out for the Vietnam War.
Retired Capt. Evan Quiros presents a “Ghost Pilot” statue he crafted to U.S Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Conley, Air Force Special Operations Command commander, during the final Forward Air Controller Association reunion at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Oct. 26, 2024. Engraved at the base of the statue is a poem by John Gillespie McGee, “For the pilots who ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silver wings’ but never returned.”
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