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Nick Nichols

Retired U.S. Air Force colonel and F-16 pilot; President of Folds of Honor, a nonprofit providing scholarships to families of fallen and disabled service members and first responders.

Nov 11, 2025

88:02
Wow.
88:02
... as a fighter pilot.
88:03
And, you know, you develop... everybody kinda develops their own disciplines and stuff.
88:08
And what's kind of neat with fighter pilots is, like, you know, it's an eclectic group.
88:12
It's, like, we're not, like, a cookie-cutter version.
88:14
I mean, I had guys who were, you know, 6'3", 225 pounds, college football players and stuff like that, all the way down to guys who were, you know, five foot five and a buck 20.
88:25
Um, but one thing that was common in all of us is just, like, a, like, a mindset, okay? And, uh, I remember when I showed up at pilot training just married and everything else, I'm meeting all of these guys.

10 MINS LATER

99:05
So, uh, anything else on the horizon?
88:41
Talk to a little bit about the training and when you finally kind of, I don't know, quote unquote, get your wings or know that you kind of pass and you have the opportunity to do this.
88:51
Yeah, you bet.
88:52
So, you know, for me, a four-year degree is required.
88:56
So college or, you know, one of the academies.
88:58
And I chose college and went through the ROTC program.
89:02
And everything like through college and the ROTC program is pretty basic, right? And then, you know, you graduate, you get commissioned and everything, you go to pilot training.
89:11
When you hit the deck at pilot training, okay, that is when you get the literal two by four to the face because you show up and go, okay, this is real now.

11 MINS LATER

100:48
So anything else on the horizon?

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