Denver Magazine / June 2010 / Denverite: Major Tom 'TKAS' Kelly

 Email  Print  Feed

Denverite: Major Tom 'TKAS' Kelly

The Life of a Fighter Pilot in the U.S. Air National Guard Has it's Ups and Downs.

Second-generation fighter pilot Tom “TKAS” Kelly flies with the 120th Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Air Force’s Air National Guard (ANG) out of Buckley Air Force Base. A graduate of Arapahoe High School in Centennial and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, he discusses his decade-plus career flying over the Mile High City, keeping America safe post 9/11, and Tom Cruise as role model.

Your dad was an Air Force pilot.
He was my role model. I got to see the Air Force from a pilot’s perspective. I knew I wanted to fly, especially fighter jets, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the military. The Air National Guard was the next best fit — I get to fly fighter jets, but I don’t have to move so often.

Then you landed at Buckley.
After CSU, I was a full-time flight instructor at Centennial Airport. A few months later, I applied to Air National Guard units that fly fighter jets. Fortunately, we had one here in Aurora. They only hire one or two applicants out of 50 to 100 each year. I went for my first interview in 1997, and was listed as an alternate. Then, in September 1998, I got the job.

Flying F-16s must have been quite a step up.
The first time I settled into the cockpit, it was everything I’d imagined it would be and more. The experience is hard to put into words. The acceleration is beyond anything you can attain out there. The visibility in the cockpit out of the bubble canopy is phenomenal. That jet, and what it can do … when I first flew it, it blew me out of the water. As soon as we were airborne, we kicked in the afterburner and did a 60- to 70-degree nose climb. We went upside down and pulled 9Gs. I was like a kid in a candy store.

What does 9Gs feel like?
Everyone says it’s like an elephant sitting on your chest. A 200 pound person weighs 1,800 pounds. You feel your face, arms, legs sag down toward the seat. It’s difficult to breathe. You have to do a G-strain maneuver [tightening the stomach and leg muscles]; otherwise, you’ll pass out.

Explain “TKAS.”
It’s a combination of my initials, and the acronym for the Traffic Collision Avoidance System. There’s a story behind it, but that’s all I can tell you.

How has the ANG changed over the years?
We used to be a group of traditional guardsmen — 32 pilots, here one weekend per month, plus we’d fly a certain number of times during the month. Since 9/11, the Guard has changed a lot, especially at Buckley. Our alert commitment requires we have more full-time pilots [on-call 24 hours per day]. Over 20 are full time now. Only seven or so are part-time fighter pilots who also fly outside the Guard, like for a commercial airline.

You’ve been deployed beyond Colorado’s borders.
Yes, initially in the spring of 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. A year later, in summer 2004, we deployed to Balad Airbase in Iraq. We went back in 2007 and again in 2009. We were providing close air support for the Army and Marines. Or we were infrastructure watching — pipelines, power lines — making sure they stayed intact.

What’s it like being a family man and a fighter pilot?
It’s a give and take. You have to set the right priorities and have an understanding spouse. My wife does a great job of it. It’s the spouse that keeps military families together.

Two words: Top Gun.
They did a good job of showing some of the flying, but the reality is not as glamorous. That was basically the Navy’s version of the Air Force’s weapons school. That part is real. But the shirts off, playing volleyball isn’t too precise. You and your squadron members do become a very close-knit group. We’ve been around each other for years. We would do anything for any one of us. You have to have the utmost faith in the person flying with you. I wish there was an Air Force movie on par with Top Gun. All we have is Iron Eagle, and it’s not that great.