I was in the World Famous VF-2 Bounty Hunters Avionics shop on this cruise with Lt. Page & Lt. Jordan! I helped rig that barricade that night! Both Mr. Page & Lt. Jordan did an exemplary job getting our jet back on deck under extremely difficult circumstances! Low fuel, at night, pitching deck, and high stress! Bravo Zulu to both of them! It was my honor serving with you guys!!!

Ward's face at 29:00 onwards tells you all you need to know how bad this could have been! Really glad that it ended well thanks to some superb airmanship. All that practice paid off!

Held my breath through the barricade story, I hope Page was officially recognized for outstanding airmanship and professionalism through this ordeal. As a pilot, i know distractions can be fatal, yet he was able to block that out and perform at the highest level in saving both him and his crew plus a very expensive fighter. Kudos to all, well, except for the barricade crew.

Great Story. I was Air Ops Officer on Ike in May1983. We were transiting to Med for cruise. We had a Black Shoe Admiral onboard RADM Ming Chang. Weather was horrible night ops with massive rain and high seas and no divert since we were well west of the Azores. I went to the staff Air OPs and tried to talk him out of flying but was refused, Admiral wanted us to fly. Our Captain Ed Clexton, a great skipper, although very unhappy conceded to flying. Night blue water ops with a relatively inexperienced air wing is problematic at best. Not only do you have the pressure of no divert but with a pitching deck you have difficulty moving and parking aircraft, which all adds up to a very slow recovery and of course low fuel airplanes airborne that you have to get back aboard. I sensed that we would have a problem so I alerted both the A6 and A7 squadrons to man their spare tankers and had the Handler park them near the Cats for a quick launch if necessary. What I expected happened and after getting everyone else aboard, we wound up with two F14's and a A3 Whale in the bolter penalty box. I launched every tanker that we had and plugged everyone multiple times. The deck was pitching and everyone boltered multiple times, all three pilots were LtJG's working their butts off trying to get aboard. The recovery went on for ever, so much so that our recovery helo piloted by the squadron CO Cdr Jim Drager was almost out of fuel with about 30 minutes of fuel left. He asked me to land him to hot pump and I denied him. I knew if I did that I would lose the F14's and the Whale due to fuel starvation. He never complained but told me that he wanted to put his helo in the water with the engines running. I told him that was his decision and that we would try to get a boat in the water after we completed the recovery. Every 5 minutes he would call me and give me his fuel status. His actions were a true act of courage, we all knew with the sea states that if he put it in the water he and his crew would probably drown before we could get to them. If I remember NATOPS night barricade for the F14 was 1.8 thousand pounds of fuel. At that point i had recovered all the tankers, was trying to refuel them and get them aloft again but the F14's were at that point about 1.5 for fuel. The Captain called me a few times and asked what was my plan, I told him that I planned to land them, he said but Ron we are below barricade fuel. I said to him if we barricade one we will lose the other two and unless you order me we are not going to barricade them. The CAG, Cdr Don McCrory was sitting next to me and I said CAG do you want me to do something differently and to his credit he said no Ron continue what you are doing. The next time around we trapped one of the F14's, that left a F14 and the Whale. I got on the radiio and told the young pilot that this was his last look and to pay very close attention to the LSO. The CAG LSO was waving and I called him and said talk to the kid, calm him down, which he did a great job doing. Natops says that you should give the aircraft a five mile straight in and this poor pilot had less than a 2 mile straight in, but we trapped the F14 with about 500 lbs of fuel. The deck was a cluttered mess and we could barely get the F14 across the foul line so we could trap the Whale. Next we luckily trapped the Whale and while he was still in the wire the Helo landed behind him with his #2 engine spooling down. I was sure that the Helo skipper was going to hate me but he immediately came into Air OPs and hugged me. The Captain told me to tell the Admiral that the recovery was complete. I went to the Flag spaces and they were all watching a movie. I went to sit down next to the Admiral to tell him what happened and he put his hand up to silence me so I would not disturb the movie. I was a little taken back but realized why we should always have aviators as carrier Admirals.

Mooch, I'm firmly convinced that, between your career experiences and the people you know, you'll NEVER run out of compelling stories to tell us!

Mooch….Clete Norris here. F-15 Weapons School grad and IP. Was the one Air Force exchange instructor at TOPGUN 91-93. Please give my best to Pager…it was an awesome experience. A great group of Naval Aviators who took care of the Air Force dude…I will never forget being dual qualed in the A-4 E/F/M and the F-16N.

About 54 years ago this month I remember hearing someone saying a fuel call "30 seconds" but they were only landing on the moon.

Ward, I hope you realize how important your channel is for recording these stories for future audiences forever memorializing these important historical events that would otherwise never be told or only be learned of through books or personal accounts of the story. Its critical for not only Naval Aviation history but for military history in general. Keep up the great work.

Impressive story and great demonstration of teamwork by a pilot and his RIO. As an Attack Pilot, Id have to say most of us think most F14 stories are overly embellished but if anything Page is pretty humble.

Mr. Carroll, I'm 76, a grounded low time, commercial/instrument pilot who's greatest achievement has been my last job of giving rides in a PT-17 Stearman. I've been lucky to have people from all walks of life in the front seat, military, civilian, young, old, even a governor or senator or two, here and there. But viewing your videos, especially this one, I feel like I'm a very small Jack who has found his way up the beanstalk only to find myself surrounded by giants. There are times where I feel I'm breaking the law by getting to see what life is like closer to the top of the "pyramid". Thank you for your service and for giving a guy like me a glimpse into what I will never see.

I am completely enthralled by these type of first person Pilot telling of their emergency adventures and could listen for hours! Being a veteran of Naval Carrier aviation, as an enlisted Squadron member, I have unfortunately seen firsthand the outcome of a barricade event gone wrong. Listening to Tom Page relate how he prepared for his barricade arrestment, makes the danger almost palpable, especially his fuel state upon getting aboard. A great outcome to a very tense situation.

I had a pilot land an A-6E one day at NAS Alameda, CA (SF Bay area) in the early 90's. I was helping the PC's and was pinning the pilots seat for them. I looked down for some steange reason at the fuel gauge, it read 650 pounds. I yelled down to the pilot who just did his post flight walk around, that he was pretty lucky that he had me as an AE doing all the fuel quantity settings. He asked me why. I said because I make sure that the gauges are reading dead on no matter where they are when indicating the fuel load. He looked at me with a puzzled look. I said the 650 pounds of fuel. He said I land that low all the time. I said the main fuel tank is allowed a 1,000 pound error. You could have ran out of fuel 350 pounds ago and had to eject if you couldn't glided it to the runway. The A-6 has a low wing loading so it glides excellent with no ordnance installed. He then said thanks for keeping me safe. We didn't have to many errogant pilots and B/N's in my A-6 squadron which made working and talking to them really easy. I still talk with several of them to this day.

Every crew member who went through those barricade drills took that knowledge to follow on assignments. There’s really nothing like first hand, real life experience to solidify things you hope only needs done in training.

I was the approach controller on the Nimitz when we lost the A3 attempted barricade. Tragic. The navigator on that jet was always in air ops doing squadron rep and just hanging out. I think we had a 1 or two day stand down...then back to business. I can still hear the LSO screaming cut cut cut!!!

I was stationed at Marine Air Station Kaneohe from 1975-78 as a Marine company commander, the battalion S-4 (logistics officer) and as the 1st Marine Brigade G-4 Operations Officer. The 1st Marine Brigade was the only base in the Marine Corps where the ground and air units were stationed together and so we probably had the closest relationships between the ground and air in the entire Marine Corps. But the commanding general didn't think it was close enough and so he mandated a program where F-4 pilots would become infantry company commanders for two weeks and selected infantry company commanders would fly the back seat of the F-4 (the RIO) for two weeks. But for company commanders, of which I was on selected, there were pre-flight training we had to go through such as the pressure chamber, the ejection seat, and how to handle a water landing with a parachute, so we only got one back seat ride. But the pilot who took over my company had two complete weeks of leading my company. My F-4 ride was to deliver live bombs on a target on a bombing range simulating antiaircraft fire. The first thing I noticed was that the flight gear was pretty heavy but not has heavy as infantry combat gear. The second thing i notices was that while taxing the cockpit was like an oven on high. I was soaking wet in sweat before we even took off. The third thing I noticed was that taking off was like having a rocket strapped to the F-4. because there didn't seem to be any AC in the cockpit. I felt like a roasted chicken. Once we reached altitude, it was much more comfortable. When we began to approach Kahoolawe island (the bombing range back then), the pilot dropped down to a few hundred feet above the sea which gave the impression that we were going much faster than reality. Then he pulled up vertically and rotated 180 degrees so that he could acquire the target and then he rolled 90 degrees to avoid negative g's and then another 90 degrees to roll in on the target. So far so good for me. But then he began Jinking to avoid simulated antiaircraft fire which had my head bouncing off both sides of the canopy and then a hard g pull up while still jinking and that's when I got sick and vomited in my vomit bag. When we taxied into the squadron space on the tarmac, the entire squadron personnel were there to welcome us back but more importantly to see if my pilot, call sign "Puke" had been able to make me puke, which he did. As I held up my vomit bag, everyone erupted into cheer. Puke had accomplished his mission that had nothing to do with hitting the target. I knew it was that the squadron wanted Puke to make me puke. Mission successful. But what about the pilot that took command of my company for two weeks? I suspect that my company, like Puke, wanted him to see what it was really like to command an infantry company. He told me that he never wanted that experience again. I suspect, like Puke, my company wanted to make it a challenge for him. Mission accomplish. I used to taunt pilots about their flight pay all year where we only got combat pay when in combat. After that ride, I never again joked with pilots. They earn every cent of their flight pay. What it boiled down to was that the pilot didn't want anything to do with commanding the infantry and I had a much better respect for pilots and RIO's. The only difference was that I still wanted to be a military pilot but I had bad eyes and I wasn't good at math. However, I did get my private pilot's license and commercial and instrument ratings. My dad was a B-17 pilot in WW II and was shot down on July 26, 1943. Five of his crew were killed and five of the bailed out. All five were captured and spent the rest of the war as POWs. In my later life, I did pay for rides on B-17's only to try to experience what my father experienced in visuals, sounds, and just how cramped the B-17 was. My dad died on active duty in 1971 at age 51 when he was the commander of the Clark AFB in the Philippines from a heart attack. But before he died, I was a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam and had an opportunity to catch a medivac flight to Manila. I took a bus to Clark AFB and when I walked into his office, his secretary asked why I wanted to see him. I was in Marine Corps uniform and was just a first lieutenant. I told the secretary that I only had a few hours before I had to return to Vietnam and I was his son. I don't think I could describe the emotional responses. I spent a night with my mom and dad and then had to return to Vietnam. What made it more emotional is that my brother was a company commander in Vietnam and had been severely wounded and I didn't yet know it. My brother spent a year in the hospital but then finished his Marine career as a Colonel with over 30 years of service. He had every ticket punched to be a general except for not being on senior general's team to get promoted. In my opinion every promotion from LtCol and above is totally political. What your record is doesn't matter. It only matters if you are on a team and have a sponsor. That is when I lost faith in the Marine Corps because I saw and experienced for real when I was the Project Officer to automate the offer assignment system for the Marine Corps. That was a more that three year effort and it was successful. But it wasn't completely fair and completely unbiased. In fact it didn't address Colonels or generals. So it was just the officer assignment system for LtCol and below and even then career monitors could override the automated recommendations. And each time they overrode the recommendations, I had to make a new computer run to account for the differences in the recommendations. To be honest I hated that job because I always felt that the career monitors and the senior commanders always had a better understanding of their combat needs that computers could never have. My project was successful but not for the good of the Marine Corps in my opinion.

I was a Marine Corps infantry officer for 21 years with 3 years in combat. My first job out of college was as a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam. Hard year and mentally and physically exhausting. I lost a lot of good Marines killed and wounded. We operated in the jungle, mountains, elephant grass, rice paddies, and coastal pines. Each area had a completely different set of challenges of command and control. In the jungle, mountains, and elephant grass it might be like all of your instruments and comms in the F-14 were out but you were still in the fight and you didn't know where you were. Why? Because the only means of navigation i had was a military compass and an out of date 1:50,000 French map. In the jungles and elephant grass, I had no visual references and so I had very little idea where I was. In the mountains, I at least had a guess at which peak I might be on. Rice paddy navigation wasn't too bad because I usually had distant mountain peaks from which I could do a resection but it was only good to 1-3 Kilometers of where I actually was. Not knowing exactually where I was made calling in artillery and close air support challenging. Therefore, I always asked for a smoke round for artillery to see where it would detonate and then adjust off of that. With close air support, I had to ask for a dry run to ensure the pilot knew where the target was because I wasn't sure. Some new platoon commanders got flustered and would tell the pilot, "You are at my 12 O'clock" and of course the pilot had no idea where the platoon commander was. The platoon commander should have told the pilot something like, "I'm at your 9 O'clock". The other problem was that the enemy often were monitoring our radio transmissions and I told a pilot I'm popping yellow smoke then the enemy would pop yellow smoke as well. That was solved when we finally got encrypted radios. I was once a private pilot with commercial and instrument ratings. I also took basic, intermediate, and advanced aerobatics. I was also a glider pilot and I flew a number of different aircraft types including a Pitts Special, a Laker amphibious, a Beaver, complexed single engine, and I took a mountain flying course in Alaska which was heart pumping. In addition to flying, I also learned to sail around the Hawaiian island, I was a sky diver, a SUBA wreck diver and under water photographer, a motorcycle touring enthusiasts, camper, hiker, x-country skier, white water canoeist, and rock climber without equipment. I tried to live life to its fullest, but it cost me my first marriage, which I regret. I'm 77 now. My advice to all young people is to live life to its fullest whether it's adventures or raising a family (which would have been more difficult for me than losing my life). God bless everyone who had children and raised them to be outstanding citizens.

Ward you have a good friend there. He is very likeable and makes me want trust him. You guys are fortunate to be friends.

The third squadron was VMFA-212. The UDP started in 1977 with six month rotations, -235 being the first and followed on by-212. I remember the day -232 arrived, a group of six jets, with the CO trapping midfield; I was working point that day on the arresting gear crew. Those were some good days back in the 70's, with a very dynamic op tempo year round that was never boring.

This incident was also documented in the movie "Tomcat Tales",. At one point his RIO very calmly states "900 pounds" when asked their fuel state. Always incredible to hear and see people remain so calm and work the problem

My heart did a triple beat when you showed the picture of Ranger. How we develop such a love for our ships is beyond me, but it's true. I was aboard Ranger for 2 years and have regretted for over 50 years not staying aboard for my full first enlistment. I loved sea duty. Shore was terrible and I left the Navy at the completion of my 4th year as a second class Data Processing Technician.

I was an air traffic controller on the USS Ranger CV-61 back in 1983. We were working blue water ops in the Indian Ocean, and it was the last recovery of the night. The returning EA-6B had a good mode 2 approach and called the ball. The wind had picked up and the waves had grown in pitch and roll. He bolstered and had to go around. He ended up being unable to catch the wires and they launched the tanker S-3. Everyone else landed and the Prowler and tanker were the only ones airborne. You could hear the concern grow in his voice. He ended up making 9 approaches before finally catching the wire. There were no divert fields available, and the barricade was going to be used on his next pass. There was a massive cheer that went up as he taxied to his parking spot. He did a lot better the next day and night ops he was involved in.

Mr. Carroll thank you for this. It’s so awesome to see a fellow Diamondback♦️♦️♦️ doing well.

I love these “war story” episodes! One of the things I love most about both my 22 years of service and all these much less exciting post-retirement years, is hanging out with other vets swappin’ “there I was” stories. Thank both of you gentlemen for another great show, Commander. 🤙🏼😊

Riding a super bike, is the closest thing to flying. Awesome speed. Feeling at one with the machine. Lucky guys to fly such fast deadly and beautiful jets.

Sir! I was aboard USS Kitty Hawk CV 63 for the 1984 WestPac assigned to VA 145 Swordsmen, A6 Intruder squadron out of NAS Whidbey Island, WA. Both VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters were our F14 Tomcat fleet protection squadrons. Later in 1985-86 if my memory is correct. We transitioned as a CAG back to USS Ranger CV 61 carrier Battlegroup. I bet at some point in time I as an AD3 and you as a Commissioned Officer sky-jockey crossed paths somewhere aboard ship or in Hawai'i (my home State). Blessings to you both. Small world.

The Ranger came into Fremantle (western australia) around July 1989. My dad and I (I was 15 at the time) got to go aboard (with thousands of other visitors). While aboard I excitedly chatted with a few of the Tomcat pilots. It is very interesting to hear that these events happened not too long before I had such a memorable day aboard such an awesome ship, and one of those Tomcat pilots could have been this fine gentleman. It was a great day out and I wore my souvenir CV-61 cap for many many years before it finally fell apart.

As you have said heretofore Commander, US Navy carrier-based pilots are the best in the world. Very cool gents!

I gonna say normally i'm not in for these long conversations, but this one, I couldn't stop listening, and i'm very glad at all worked out.

Actually, it's not that Mav can't get his nose gear down. He has no nose gear to get down after clipping that railing on departure, lol. Thank you for the outstanding video, Mooch! These first person accounts of extraordinary stories are excellent! Thank you again! And yes, please keep'em coming!

Not a pilot, my dad was . But I would say hitting the barricade results in a very high “pucker factor “.

The camaraderie between fliers shines pure notwithstanding prior dedication academics along with the essential quotidian crucial in becoming credentialed. Bravo to you both.

Rangers last ride 91-93 I saw my fair share if mishaps but nice to know he flew on my first ship and lived. Gotta love the F-14

Excellent interview, Ward! Pager and Rico tell this story together in "Tomcat Tales". It's a great watch. I highly recommend it to any and all Tomcat fans.

Nice interview with Pager. Look forward to hearing about his time as a TOPGUN instructor since my son is at NFWS at the moment and graduates Aug. 24. He will then stay on as an instructor also.

Always impressed with cool heads under pressure. Terrific story!👍

I was an ABE3 in the waist cats on the Ranger when this happened. West Pac 89 was my last deployment on the Ranger. For those that don't know or haven't experienced it, a live barricade is a very big deal and has the potential to end in disaster. Add night ops, and a storm, It just adds to the danger, when the order to rig the barricade comes across the 5MC everything on the flight deck stops and it becomes an all hands evolution. I found your channel about 2 years ago and have enjoyed many of your videos , they bring back many great memories of my service in the Navy, I am proud of my time in Naval Aviation.

Of all your guests, Pager has to have been one of the best. His ability to tell is story is top shelf. I could actually feel my own anxiety rising as he was flying closer and closer to the barricade. I can't wait for his stories of going to Top Gun!! Thanks Mooch!

Unfortunately I joined Rangers crew days after this incident. I was assigned to Ilarts which filmed his barricade landing. I did have a compilation tape of many types of crashes from around the navy from all Years, but sadly it has been lost. So we both shared a ride on board a truly great ship. Sorry she's gone.

Small world! The stock photo of the TA-4F, BuNo 154641 you show to illustrate what Tom flew with the USMC H&MS Squadron in K-Bay got my attention. The MODEX of EX is that of H&MS-31, MAG-31, MCAS Beaufort, SC who I flew with for about 2 years in the late '70's. It also prompted me to look into my log book for those years to see if we had that BuNo at the time. As it turns out we didn't but we did have 154639 and 154640, amongst others, which I flew as a WTI aggressor and TACA/FACA pilot between F-4J/S tours with VMFA-312 and VMFA-451 from '76 through '80. Thanks for prompting great memories and for a great story of Tom's barrier engagement! Snake

Awesome interview with Pager. BZ, USNA '82!

What Page said about the high noise levels while trying to sleep and eventually being able to just tune it out is not only spot on but also has a reciprocal effect. When you first get back off cruise it's way to quiet to sleep for the first few nights.

Tom Page, bad weather and a night. You are the man!

I would rather watch old heroes retell their stories than watch anything coming out of Hollywood/MSM/Cesspools. Thank you for your service and your bravery.

Mr. Page, thank you for sharing your story with us. We has beens and never was-es appreciate you very much. 💯

A most enthralling narrative. Very engaging person. I'd listen to his stories all day long. Thanks Ward.

You definitely brought back memories for me!! I was A-gang/EA01/Aircraft Elevator Machinist Mate on the flight deck the night the A-3 "missed" the barricade and went over the side. Bravo Zulu Pager and Rico!! And thank you Mooch for bringing this. It is always appreciated!!

Great! I'm doing a graphic novel and my protagonist flies his Tomcat into a barricade trap, this is a great help in research. Thanks, Mooch!

Sign of a good pilot, able to shut out the distractions and fly the plane to the end. Well done!

Great outcome. Thank you both for your service. USN 1966-70.

My only connection with the Ranger is the 24” model I kit built as a preteen. Revel models. Several Cutlasses, Vigilantes and I think Intruders, and Skyhawks, most the size of a quarter, populated the deck as removed from the sprue. Great kit. Wish it was on a shelf right now. A boy has no clue what it takes to do this flying, and here in 2023 as a burned out machinist, I still don’t. You guys really are the man. Thank you Ward for putting this out there.

“Cool as the other side of the pillow” ❤

Good teamwork and a good result. Well done Tom. Thank you Ward.

That was a great episode hearing about the time you shared on your first cruise and his barricade. Please have "Pager" on again.

A superb accountant of a life so many people never get to experience. Thanks to both for a fascinating discussion.

The Tomcat was awesome. A lot of maintenance. I was an AMH3 on the F14A

Fantastic story…never had to take the barricade in S-3’s..thank goodness….love this channel

At night on the open seas is a different kind of dark

Intense episode!!! Wow, 90 seconds of fuel left!!! There were probably several times that You wished You never jettisoned that extra fuel that You had, especially after that A-6 had a faulty external fuel delivery system....

I was a F-14 Plane Capt/ Engine shop in VF-51 from 85 to 89. We would train and train on rigging the barricade. We know whe had to be quick, you guys are counting on us. Glad it worked out ok for you.

Amazing story Mr Page - any one part of it would be pretty good grandchildren fodder but you excelled yourself all on one mission! Had a great conversation for about an hour - with a Vietnam era guy & family next to the Phantom F4 we Brits have at Hendon. Spitfires might be alright for some but I prefer something with a bit more poke. Thanks to Ward for the introduction.

I love these interviews. Thank You Ward for bringing all these people to your channel so we can listen to their stories!

Ninety seconds of fuel... Ward's look says it all. You can imagine the maintainers purging the tanks and saying "Holy Sh**" as the pump sucks air in less than a minute. Wild stuff. Great story.

As a novice DCS F-14 (sim) pilot, *my* butt puckered when he said 1,200 pounds of fuel. 😂 Awesome interview and thanks for sharing!

Hey the little thumbnails explaining the military jargon is a nice touch.

VF2 Bounty Hunters. I was an ADAA aboard USS Kitty Hawk CV63, 1984 WestPac with VA-145 Swordsmen A6 Intruder Squadron. Carrier Air Group 2. After USS Ranger CV61 cameout from drydock we went back to deploy on her with VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters. There was also a USMC A6 Intruder Squadron aboard as well. Forgot this squadron. I transitioned to shore duty afterward August 1986. Blessings gentlemen and Bravo Zulu.

This was a fun episode. -break- VMFA-232 was scratched from my deployment in 04’ because they were deemed “not deployment qualified” and replaced by VFA-137 and they were PISSED because they just finished a cruise 120 days earlier. We have a cruise patch with VMFA-232 crossed out and VFA-137 looking “penciled in” underneath. I felt for this guys and gals. (VFA-2 was on that cruise too as they had just transitioned to Super Hornets)

On 20 Mar 1976 in an USMC EA-6A I (ECMO) and pilot were returning for a routine night EMCON recovery on CV-41 (USS Midway) in the Philippine Sea that ended in a night barricade. After a bolter, and wave-off due to a single generator (only one taillight)) A-6 cutting into the pattern on downwind in front of us (LSO couldn’t see it so it trapped while we were on final.) We were waved off and took it around for a third pass. Tower called (breaking emcon) and asked fuel state. I responded with 2K lbs. Tower told us to tank. After rendezvous with airborne A-6 tanker and 3 attempts to plug on a sour package (low fuel light at this time approx. 1500 lbs), we were told to barricade. On final we were waved off due to barricade not ready, so we went around again. I’m in the right seat so I started thinking about ejection on final due to fuel starvation, so I ran my seat down to ensure my seat (not my head) broke the canopy upon ejection. The scenario didn’t look promising so cotton mouth ensued, and I couldn’t call the ball (plus you don’t call the ball anyway with emcon). We were under a 1k lbs and had I called the ball they likely would have waved us off and told us to get max altitude quickly for a safe ejection. (Lots of confusion with an emcon recovery). Anyway, we took the barricade catching a one wire and the barricade. I remember after coming to a stop the hose teams ready for a fire. That’s when I noticed my mouth had dried up. (I knew ejection on final aboard ship is high risk.) It was wild ride where everything went wrong except the last straw which worked. No swimming that night. Next morning, the fuel gauge read “600 lbs).

Ranger Battle Group left San Diego end of Feb 1989. I was on the LAMPS Det on USS Paul F. Foster for that Deployment. My Profile Pic was taken ouring that cruise.

Absolutely fascinating! Ward- I met a guy who says he was a Tomcat RIO. He lives in Cincinnati and he is an African American man callsign "Guv". He runs a portable flight sim that he brings to fairs and festivals and parties etc. Any chance you can confirm that he is legit? I have no reason to think he is not it's just an outstanding achievement to be a Tomcat RIO.

Awesome story, of course we’re left always wanting more. Thank you both for your time and service.

Talk about the Varsity- kudos to this amazing gutsy pilot. I grew up third generation Navy and lived through the harrowing dangers that pilots and aircrew live everyday. So many lost in “normal” ops. The best of the best on the front line for our country.

When someone smiles as they tell a story, it means so much more, thank you gentlemen.

I was not a Aviator but maintenance, maintenance control and flight deck coordinator for a VFA outfit . I have to say that was one heck of a experience . I mean blue water ops, heavy sea state, thunderstorms down low, Oxygen mask slapping you in the face. On top of all that he's in a low fuel state 1200 pounds heading for second tanker and trying for second tanker and fuel hose separates, never heard of that from the A6 but have from buddy stores. Gets told to take a 360 right after he's told they're rigging barricade - good grief! Now I know you guys are aviators but it needs to said, I've seen more flight deck folks get hurt doing rig the barricade drills and the real thing than just about anything else.What a story, glad they got onboard safely. Bravo Zulu gentlemen.

WHAT an interview! Cojones+brains+training. And a Porsche driver!

Excellent interview. The takeaway in training is to prepare as if everything doesn’t work as you expect. This deck crew was fortunate their lesson wasn’t written in blood.

Even for this Air Force guy, that was a helluva Sea Story !!!

I’ve really enjoyed your videos , brings back some great memories, 93-97 IKE Air Dept./V-2/Bow Catapults ABE2 Hubbard(Topside Petty-Officer/Safety Observer. I loved launching the Tomcat and putting it in Combat power. My favorite plane(VF-32 Swordsmen). Working the flight deck was great experience I wouldn’t trade for nothing. Thank you sir.🫡

I was S2E aircrew on the Yorktown and hotfooted it to the O7 level to watch a Marine F18 land sans tail hook. Fair weather and nice catch. Great experience for both of us.

As a deck crewmen, gentlemen. I can tell you both honestly. We do take the order "rig barricade!" seriously and execute post haste! Thank YAH someone noticed the barricade was installed inverted. Better you and your RIO flameout and eject versus decapitation!

wow. harrowing and what I was amazed at was how cool he stayed even as all the little things piled up. His mask, sour tanker, low fuel, 360s inbound, and he stayed very cool throughout. Good one Mooch and Pager

Totally gripping recollection of that night’s events. It’s incredible how many things happened from the bolter to the diverts to the sour tanker.

As a visitor commented…flight pay can’t cover the total possible problems that can occur in the flight environment. Carrier landing, at night, in a storm and with no fuel? Experience, courage and teamwork the only way it can happen. Thank you again Ward! I had three day film assignment as 314 qualified on the Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) with new F-4s in South China Sea, 1963. Amazing!

LT. Page was mad cool…I remember him telling us in the ready room that landing a plane on a carrier was like falling face down and landing your tongue on a stamp…I was an AE in VF2 and I helped rig that barricade…super scary..:our plane was destroyed but I remember it was low fuel problem…windy. Love this post…shout out to Lt. Page you where always cool with us.

It was cool to hear he was stationed at Kingsville. I'm from there and lived about 2.5 miles from the base. When we first moved there and heard the engines being tested, it sounded like a rocket was going off. I used to climb on my roof to watch the planes coming in and out of the base.

I was one of Ram Pagers instructors in VT-21 and waved him at the boat for is initial Carqual in the TA-4J. Dave “Shrantz” Erickson who was our CO was a fantastic CO and we had several fighter pilots (me from VF-111) and attack guys that made it a great squadron. Our maintenance officer was an S-3 guy who was able to produce up jets like chicklets. Years later when a lot of us instructors had gone airlines and Pager was a Topgun instructor we got a call that “Schrantz” was dying of cancer in Miramar. Eight of us former REDHAWKS rendezvous at his house in San Diego. He was to weak to go to the airshow so we chatted about old times at Miramar, and VT-21. We said our goodbyes without saying goodbye. A week later “Schrantz” died. A reporter for the San Diego tribune heard of the story and wrote an article about this. I heard Tom later flew for UPS while I was FedEx. Great guy. Alan “Biff” Cheak

I was in the NIMITZ CPO Mess watching the PLAT camera when that EA-3 crashed, that was horrifying.

I did 3 cruises on The Enterprise, working as a Plane Captain with VF-1, and we practiced setting up the barricade several times during cruises. I only experienced one actual barricade landing, and it was quite a show. The biggest "show" I witnessed in The Navy was when one of my Division Officer's was killed when his F-14 crashed into the freeway on landing approach at Miramar, and he ejected into the asphalt at about 30' above ground; it was horrendous and quite sad. Another time, (at night) I was in VF-1, on line watch while a few F-14's were practicing "touch and go's" when one of the planes had both engines cut out; while it was climbing, at a steep angle, and it just stopped and hung in the air for a moment, at about 300' and then dropped straight down onto the ground in a huge explosion, lighting up the sky like noontime. I saw one seat eject, but actually they both got out. I actually, experienced quite a few "mishaps", and most of them were engine related, as the Pratt and Whitney engines were always a problem to deal with.

He'll of a story...love how calm page and paddles were on those comms

Thanks Ward for another great episode, and thanks again for my freedom and everybody else’s for your service

Great harrowing story that had a good ending. Loved it. In all my time on carriers we never had an event to rig the barricade although we went through many drills. My squadron, VF-142, did have a real event with an F-4J on the Enterprise the cruise prior to me arriving to the squadron.

I like the detail at the end about they rigged the barricade upside-down and then had to practice every day for the next few months.

It's 1973 in the Seventh Fleet. An F-4 bolters, and his starboard main wheel comes off and sails into the South China Sea. So they board everyone else and put up the barricade. Being the A/N-SPS10 maintenance tech, I was real familiar with the island, so I went out on vultures' row to watch. I got a still photo with my Pentax, but I'll bet I can't find it now.

Believe it or not, it's very easy to rig the barricade upside down. Especially at night in bad weather. The QA guy did an amazing job at finding it and correcting it before lives were lost. Cheers

WOW! What a story! Talk about coolness under pressure. Max respect.

Dear Lord what a ride !! You certainly showed them how to do it, Pager. 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸

Never knew the intruder could refuel or had a boom. Very cool.

Sour tanker. No, when the drogue went into the ocean, it became a curdled tanker. Riveting story, thanks for sharing.

…thought this was going to be the Squirt and Dungheap barricade on CV-67 in the Adriatic when we were in VF-32…1987 I think. You may recall that was a fairly exciting night too. R/ “Hangar” 😊

Wow, Pager and I missed each other twice. He was aboard KHawk and Ranger on deployment whilst I was a member of their reserve ashore crew, and got to TOPGUN as a student before and as an instructor just after my time there as a civilian employee.

wow, that skywarrior going through the barricade like paper tissue was very sobering.