This Memorial Day weekend, as we honor the brave who gave everything for our freedom, let’s remember: True leadership means never leaving our troops in harm’s way without the tools and resolve to win. From Grenada to Bosnia to the Middle East, I’ve seen it firsthand.
God bless our fallen, our veterans, and the United States of America! As you fire up the grill over the weekend, put the beer on ice, busting out your best burgers or steaks, please remember why we honor Memorial Day. I’m remembering several friends and colleagues. Today, I remember my friend, Tim Shafer.
In 1995, I was an Air Force squadron commander, and my squadron of 220 personnel and eight jets deployed from Travis AFB, CA to Rhein Main, Germany, to fly into Bosnia during the Bosnian War.
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We had our headquarters in Germany and flew into Bosnia daily, delivering our troops, diplomats, senior officials, humanitarian aid, and yes, journalists.
Putting big airplanes into a combat situation is challenging. We were shot at frequently. We had to fly one route in and one route out. We had our C-141s modified with defensive systems, but we’re big targets.
Like any good military operation, we built our command post, scheduling, and briefing room in the basement of our on-base hotel at Rhein-Main AB, Germany. We also turned it into a bar and movie theater. (I know what I’m doing). That’s where we hung.
One of my stellar copilots was Lieutenant Tim Shafer. Also a great friend. Back home at Travis, I hung out quite a bit with Tim and his wife away from work. Birthdays, Napa wine tastings, skiing up at Tahoe, you name it. I chose Tim as one of my hand-picked pilots because he was that good.
After a particularly long day of flying in and out of the Bosnia zone safely, Tim and I shared a few beers in our “command post” with some of the other guys, and got a little effed up. It was such a memorable time. Super dude!
As I’ve written about earlier, our Bosnian deployment was hugely successful. We had a 99 percent departure reliability rate, got shot up a few times, but we brought everybody home safely!
I remember distinctly Tim and his wife reuniting when we climbed off the jets at Travis.
MiG-29UB Fulcrum & F-16D Fighting Falcon – Ramstein AB, Germany 1993. http://t.co/INFxED3MwF pic.twitter.com/WewJSzudQb
— Su-27 Flanker (@Suhoi27flanker) August 10, 2015
Military assignments can be crazy. Tim and his wife were reassigned a few months later to fly T-43s at Ramstein AB, Germany. They were really excited about it!
Shortly thereafter, Tim was the pilot who crashed and died in the Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crash in Croatia. On April 3, 1996, Tim was piloting his T-43 full of corporate CEOs and Brown on an official trade mission. Flying an NDB approach (non-directional beacon) into Dubrovnik. Thirty-five people onboard died.
The USAF called the accident “pilot error.” I’ve never bought that conclusion.
Gosh, Hillary - I do remember this crash that took the life of your Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown 19 years ago. That was a weird one, eh? https://t.co/FuEubaxZpn pic.twitter.com/nqlI3eLPGy
— Michael O'Fallon - Sovereign Nations (@SovMichael) February 6, 2025
As a matter of fact, I’d just given Tim a check ride at Travis that included NDB approaches. He received an “excellent.” He was a stellar, solid pilot. Something in the USAF final decision of the accident was wrong, and USAF Chief of Staff, General Ron Fogleman, resigned as a result.
I planned Tim’s memorial at Travis, replete with T-38 missing man flyover. I went to the White House right after that.
For Memorial Day, I’m pouring one out for Lieutenant Tim Shafer! 'Til Valhalla, Tim!
