Three months after a bad bike crash that totally kicked my ass, I finally got around to seeing a doctor. The local orthopedic clinic seems to have two surgeons that work on alternating days. I simply wanted a quick check up and some reassurance that I was healing up and not being stupid by toughing it out, or maybe doing more damage to my collarbone area by not "fixing" it. I have a very hard time keeping scheduled appointments, as my crane work is so unpredictable, so as I had unexpectedly had today off, I called them to see if I could get a quick consult and was told to get in quick and they'd squeeze me in.

So, 40 minutes later I'm walking down a hallway with a nurse in the clinic on the way to the X ray area, and on the walls are the usual generic artwork, and then, a group of 4 pictures really caught my eye. They were all of a Harrier jump jet, obviously based on an aircraft carrier. I came to a halt and asked the nurse what the significance of these pictures were, she said "Oh, Dr. Coker (real name) used to fly jets." Like, no big deal! I immediately told her I wanted Dr. C as my doc, and was told he was off today so I ended up getting checked out by his partner. Later I was thinking how any putz can become a surgeon specializing in sport type injuries involving the shoulder area, big whoop. But DAMN, being a Marine Air Corp Harrier pilot was totally bad ass, and in my mind at least, totally overshadowed his medical creds! I wonder if he thinks of himself, his own self image, as a doctor, OR, first and foremost a Marine Harrier pilot? He's both of course, and what an interesting career path, I'd love to hear his story sometime. Maybe I'll get banged up again and I'll get a chance.

The other doc (not a pilot as far as I know, no pictures of him launching off a carrier anyway on the walls,ho hum) quickly ascertained yeah I did the right thing by NOT coming in earlier, my injury (something about the clavicle and tendons) was a 2 on a scale of 5, 5 they operate, less then that they send you home. I was told to keep doing whatever it was I'm doing! Perfect advice, as I've flown several hours AND ridden my e bike 10 to 40 miles 5 days in a row now, and will do so tomorrow again, but now with a clear conscious I'm not prolonging the healing process

Damn Tom is a tough one.
Sorry you missed HSF this year. Guess Steve didn't need our help anyway!
You would have liked seeing the PPG and PPC guys floating around.
Stay well, John

I know of three Air Force friends that did the same thing. Two were F-15C pilots that became doctors, and one F-16 pilot as well. They flew and practiced medicine at the same time.

Interesting Jughead, thanks for that input.

Cool story, never can tell where life will push you next. My current dentist used to fly F-15's. A good friend of mine's dad was a F5 guy and test pilot....he went to work as an electrical engineer in nothing related to aviation. Both happy as a clam.

Closer to home, my dad was an Army aviator. Cobras in Vietnam and then fixed wing. Stopped flying in '74 and then started back up in 2004 in Cessna Cardinal. He used to joke that it had about the same level of armament.

One of the best pieces of wisdom i got when I was joining the Navy...."I know what the poster says, but really its not just an adventure....it's a JOB!!"

Doctor = Pay that is conducive to supporting a habit like flying.

Seems logical, get the flying bug in the service, and then have to figure out a way to support the habit after you get out.

Doctors are always looking for ways to cure bugs, it would seem.

Whether or not he currently flies would be my first question.

I think high achievers in any one field are adaptable and transfer skills well to other fields. Hard work, discipline, commitment, confidence, brains....

But DAMN, being a Marine Air Corp Harrier pilot was totally bad ass, and in my mind at least, totally overshadowed his medical creds! I wonder if he thinks of himself, his own self image, as a doctor, OR, first and foremost a Marine Harrier pilot?

I can almost assure you that he thinks of himself as a Marine first...then pilot...then Dr. And it is Marine Corps, not air Corp.

And happy to hear you're back in the saddle. Always enjoy your pics and the stories of your crazy e-bikes.

JB

It's hard for those of us that have not been in the military to keep the terminology straight, but I do try. Like this summer, when I had about 30 seconds of face time with COMMANDER Frank Borman, and I addressed him as MR. Borman I'll ask my local postmaster, an ex Marine, whether he thinks of himself as a postmaster or Marine first, I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

Yeah, Dr. Coker could probably excel at anything he tried, selling shoes for instance, for sure a high achiever. The impact those totally unexpected pictures of the Harrier ops off the carrier made on me, in the middle of walk down a plain jane medical center hallway with the afore mentioned generic artwork, was immediate and large. I mean, what's the glide ratio of a Harrier with zero airspeed and an engine failure? And a carrier eject has to be the worst? At least when he goes to work now he doesn't have to worry about whether or not he'll have to eject that day. On a related subject, I'll never forget while driving around in Fairbanks with my older brother who was/is a 3 tour Vietnam era Marine scout sniper (hope I got that right) and in a totally uncalled for incident of road rage, some yahoo flipped us off while passing us. In a 35 mph zone, we were doing 40, he was doing 50+..... I flipped him off back, my brother just went, "ahh... that's no big deal," it didn't even register on his threat level meter. he just blew it off, I'll never forget that. Dr Coker probably doesn't get rattled easy in the OR is my guess.

Mojave Flyer: I was never OUT of the saddle, after 2 or 3 days off while the bleeding stopped (big abrasions, lots of ooze), I started back in flying and biking. For a while it was a real bitch getting in the plane, but I modified my technique to make it work. Running the crane was easy, setting it up not so much, same with climbing in and out of the operator cab while it's rotated various ways, but I made that work too. But after enough time went by, I started thinking maybe I was being TOO active, and prolonging my recovery. Not the case, so it's all good.

courierguy wrote:I'll ask my local postmaster, an ex Marine, whether he thinks of himself as a postmaster or Marine first, I'm pretty sure I know the answer.

Whatever you do, make sure you don't tell him he's an ex-marine. They prefer Former Marine.

Just yanking your chain on the terminology thing. Just needed to do it especially in light of our upcoming birthday. However, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine.

The Harrier is a very capable and unique aircarft that has served the Corps well in some very demanding environments. The ugly side of the Harrier is its less than stellar safety record. The Harrier is probably the most demanding platform in all of the US military to fly. Generally considered the top aviators in the Corps. I am told by my Harrier friends that it is like a tailwheel airplane in that it demands constant attention in all phases of flight, especially the taking off and landing thing. Who would've thought that hovering a 30,000 lb jet on one motor would be difficult?

I had the recent good fortune of spending some time in the new training squadron and get the full brief on the F-35 Lightning II. What an incredible aircraft. Brings all of the VSTOL capability of the Harrier plus the all of the whiz bang gadgetry of the fifth generation fighter.

JB

FORMER.....not ex, got it, thanks !

courierguy wrote: On a related subject, I'll never forget while driving around in Fairbanks with my older brother who was/is a 3 tour Vietnam era Marine scout sniper (hope I got that right) and in a totally uncalled for incident of road rage, some yahoo flipped us off while passing us. In a 35 mph zone, we were doing 40, he was doing 50+..... I flipped him off back, my brother just went, "ahh... that's no big deal," it didn't even register on his threat level meter. he just blew it off, I'll never forget that. .

Good story. I noticed the same about my dad growing up, ex-Vietnam guy. I was a "hot headed" kid as a teenager, always fired up about what i perceived as a slight. One of the best lessons that "tip of the spear" military experience teaches us is to "not sweat the small stuff." A useful tool i learned in the Navy is that you have to develop an appropriate range of responses/emotions to stimulus. You quickly develop a highly tuned "Radius of Fucks." If it's not in that radius, it's not worth the adrenaline.

Bill