In 1994, I was deployed from my Air Force base in Northern California to be the commander of a C-141 flying squadron operating into Bosnia during the Bosnian War. The Serbs were murdering and ethnically cleansing minorities in their region, predominantly Muslims and Croats. We flew every day from Frankfurt, Germany, into Sarajevo, delivering military, humanitarian, and medical aid and the media. The Serbs weren’t happy about outside interference, especially when NATO, the United Nations, and the US got involved. We were flying in a combat climate, and we knew it. We’d prepared, and the Serbs were constantly trying to shoot us down. They succeeded a couple of times with other nation’s jets. 

As the commander, I was always the first guy in every day. One morning, the Pentagon directed me to fly Senators Joe Biden, Bob Dole, and John Warner into and out of Sarajevo, along with our humanitarian aid and passengers, so they could say they’d been there. 

“OK. Dumb idea, but OK,” I thought. As we started our descent into Sarajevo, we received small arms fire from snipers on the tops of buildings. Immediately after landing, we faced snipers shooting from blown-out buildings around the runway. We quickly deplaned our cargo and passengers with the exception of the senators, kept our engines running, and spun to get out of there. As we were headed to the runway at a million miles an hour, Biden asked to come to the cockpit and watch the takeoff. I didn’t say no and let him sit in the “jump seat”  — the seat immediately behind the pilots’ seats. “Sure, buddy. You can watch. You’re a senator,” I thought. 

As we were taking off, the small arms fire was still coming at us. Shortly after we lifted off, we were immediately locked onto by Serbian surface-to-air missiles. The airplanes we were flying were up-armored with Kevlar cockpits and missile defensive systems. Immediately, our defensive systems fired off (consisting of loud aural warnings and the dispensing of flares and chaff to cause the threat to go off tarter). We took evasive actions, climbed into some clouds, and climbed out safely. 

When everything had calmed down and we’d run all the appropriate checklists, I turned to check on Joe. His eyes were like saucers. He was scared shitless. He didn’t say a word. We dropped into Split, Croatia, to deplane our senators so they could reunite with their wives, and we continued on to Frankfurt. I didn’t smell poop emanating from the jump seat, but I didn’t verify. Haven’t heard from him since. 

So, if you hear Joe Biden claim that he piloted an Air Force jet into combat, you can be sure it’s not true.

Goodnight, all! Future episodes are coming!