My Big Brother Was a Fighter Pilot — You’ll Never Guess His Call Sign

My older brother flew F-18 Hornets (pictured above) off aircraft carriers for 15 years in the Navy. He graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, got his wings in Beeville, Texas, and eventually made his way to the VFA-86 Sidewinders based at NAS JAX (Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida).

His call sign was Spuds -- as in Spuds MacKenzie, Bud Light beer mascot back in the day.

Apparently it's because he's about 6 inches shorter than the next smallest in his squadron. He likes to say he's everyone's "beer dog" so he rarely has to buy rounds and he's adorable and loveable and he can drink all the other flyboy jackasses under the table.

I know kin is blood, but I think the reality lies somewhere more towards the flyboy jackasses. The truth is out there.