By Peter Meehan
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Officer
Cadet Vic Hare on graduation day at OTS.
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Photo
by SGT Dave Grant.
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F-14
Tomcat veteran Vic Hare has taken destiny into his own hands by
seeking new challenges as a trainee pilot with the Air Force.
The former US Navy flier is now a RAAF officer cadet, having completed
junior officer training on August 5.
Officer Training School at Point Cook and the rustic delights
of Lorain, Ohio, are a long way from patrolling the no-fly zone
as a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) over Iraq, during his US carrier-borne
days.
How did the former Tomcat “back seat jock” become a
RAAF trainee pilot? Fate took a twist during a 1998 visit to Perth
by USS Lincoln, on which Officer Cadet Hare served three tours
of duty.
He began a “love affair” with Australia that was to
later play a part in his decision to join the RAAF.
But unexpected twists of fate have filled almost every stage of
his career.
His poor eyesight was a major obstacle to his pilot aspirations.
Still, it was his strong will to fly that eventually led him to
the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to become a RIO.
In 2001, he was posted as an F-14 flight instructor to VF-101
Squadron, where he remained for three years.
That year, the US Navy offered him the chance to get corrective
eye surgery.
Focused on securing his shot at pursuing a career as a US Navy
pilot, he underwent successful eye correction and submitted his
application for category transfer to pilot the very next day,
but was deemed too valuable in his instructional role and not
released.
Every year since that first visit to Perth in 1998, Officer Cadet
Hare visited Australia during his holidays.
At Sydney Airport he flicked through the Yellow Pages for numbers
to contact the Air Force.
Flying on to Perth, he turned up unannounced at RAAF Base Pearce,
asking to talk to someone involved in pilot training. His initiative
was rewarded with a day at No. 2 Flight Training School, hosted
by the CO.
His corrective surgery, although medically successful, prohibited
him from being deemed medically fit for pilot service in the RAAF.
Undaunted, he approached the then-CO Aviation Medicine for further
advice. Not long after these discussions medical policy changed
and Officer Cadet Hare’s eye operation became one less obstacle.
With residency sorted, he finally applied to become an Air Force
pilot.
Asked to reflect on his experience at OTS and that of his US Navy
training, Officer Cadet Hare takes little time to
recognise the differences.
“One thing that I’ve particularly noticed is the difference
in military discipline.”
“Aussie discipline is a little less imposed than that in
the US military and I’ve seen things that would be handled
vastly different in the US – no better, but different.”
And it’s the accommodating Aussie approach that has provided
him with some of his greatest experiences at OTS.
“There’s really no recognition of my American heritage.
Rather, a total acceptance by my course mates that gives me the
comfort of knowing that I’m no different to them.”
Officer Cadet Hare is aware that the journey ahead will offer
yet more twists, steep learning curves, challenges and hardships.
And, just like everybody else, he is not resting on his laurels.
