In 1970, I resigned my commission in the United States Air Force. I was unhappy with Strategic Air Command's idea of what my career was to be. 

Cadets, here's a lesson in command leadership for you: Your first job as commander is to take care of your troops. If you don't, they will abandon you. 

The day after I resigned, my wing commanding officer told me that my assignment to Vietnam in fighters had just arrived after a four-year delay. All I had to do to get it was take my resignation back. I didn't believe that coincidence any more than you might, but that's how I got to fly the A-37. 

Unlike the B-52 bombing the jungle, the close air support mission was very rewarding, and I rapidly went from copilot in the biggest bomber to flight lead and instructor in the smallest fighter. I flew 205 combat missions in the tiny bird. After Vietnam, I went to graduate school and then USAF Test Pilot School, where I would again, in 1979, get to instruct in the A-37. They say that a pilot always falls in love with his first fighter. I was not to see my love again until 2023. 

In 2023, Mark Peterson, of Mustang High Flight Aeronautics, took his restored A-37 to the Oshkosh Warbird fly-in, and he wanted someone who had flown her in combat to speak about her. Classmate Col. (Ret.) Jerry Sailors volunteered me for the job. Thank you, Jerry. He was running the A-37 Association and he knew I was lecturing at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Aero Department about flying and Vietnam. Click here to see that speech. 

In October 2025, the A-37 Association decided to have its final reunion, and they combined it with a Warbird fly-in at St. George, Utah, where Mark Peterson again showed up — this time with Charlie Largay and his A-37 so that they could fly formation. I was again invited to speak, and this time I got to FLY! After 45 years, they had to help me get into the cockpit, but I could still FLY, if not as well as I once could. But God, I loved it! Thank you, Mark and Charlie, and instructor Jon Huggins who flew with me. It was absolutely magical being in the air with my first love at 84 years old! 

I want to mention the Warbird pilots. I consider myself pretty qualified with over 18,000 flying hours, 1,605 of these in my 377 combat missions. I instructed in bombers, fighters, tankers, transports, trainers, gliders and airliners, qualified in helicopters and flew 129 different aircraft including a balloon and a blimp. These guys have flown stranger aircraft than I have, and had to put them together first and then deal with the FAA to get them into the air. Kudos to all of you and thanks for listening to my old flying stories. 

It is just wonderful to feel relevant at my age.   

About the author: Col. (Ret.) Hank Hoffman '63 served four combat tours in Vietnam in the B-52 and A-37, combining 377 combat missions from 1967 to 1971. After graduate school at Arizona State University and test pilot school, he spent another 11 years in the flight test community. He retired from flying as a C-141 instructor pilot in the Air Force Reserve forces, with more than 10,000 military flying hours. Col. Hoffman added another 8,000 hours flying as a captain for American Airlines. He served for several years as a volunteer for the Association of Graduates and currently serves on the AOG's board of directors.