Page 57 - Appendix A

INTERVIEWS

Pete Hargrove (1985 SUPT Student)

Pete H: Every time I look back at this stuff man, I wonder why I'm still talking about it, why
it’s still on my mind like it is, but I guess the reason why it is, is that we’re seeing
no change. I mean, it is what it is…

There was a study being done with you know the Air Force DP. We chatted about
that for a while. The Director of Personnel at Air Force wanted to know what's
happening out there at the SUPT bases, and these guys come rolling through and
every single instructor or student that they talked to, would mention my name
and they finally went – “Where is this guy?”

We sat down with all these people out here and nobody has been able to not
mention his name about whether or not stuff is square around here. They were
basically telling us to level up with them. I did and I said it’s like you give a dude
his 18th out of 20 choices after he’s performed like that?... So, it was kind of
interesting.

I had to take 30 days leave so I didn't hurt myself or anybody else in the airplane
after the wing commander had his way of telling me that he didn't give a shit about

me. That’s what was – excuse my language. I know you’re recording, but that’s
what it was. The dude (WG/CC) – he gave me an opportunity to ask him the
question of Sir, based upon what I've been for the last four years at Vance Air
Force Base, is my 18th out of 20 choices representative of that performance? And
he hemmed and hawed and just tried to talk a lot of noise about the other people’s
performance curves and hearing that I had a slow start which I didn't. I started it
off my instructor career as a distinguished grad at pilot instructor training and he
was just making stuff up.

The reason he finally got frustrated, is that he knew that I was basically waiting on
him to tell me… he’d told me on a performance grid, I was one of his top three
guys “but what the board was looking for…” So, there comes that, that nonsense.
You know if he’s recognizing that I'm one of his top three guys on the base. He’s
supposed to take care of me. He didn't. And before I was leaving the room, his

face was turning all red because he had nothing else to say.