Glimpses of God’S Grace: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Guy

By Lt Col William M. Spike Jones

Have you ever met or even heard of a Christian fighter pilot? Now you haveIm one. Come read about how an ordinary kid in a Navy family grew up to marry the toddler two doors down. Read about my teen years in Italy and how I, as a 130 lb. band geek, received a congressional appointment to the USAF Academy. Follow me through life as a cadet. Find out how we made our own fun with coke bottles, Frisbees, lighter fluid, super glue, a condom, a pillow case, and a lot of water. See pilot training from the perspective of the student and the instructor.

Once Im all trained up in the F-15, Ill strap you in with me. (Itll be a tight fit because theres only one seat and its mine!) Together, well take my mission ready check ride and repeatedly spank Maverick and Goose in their F-14. Then well scramble to fly into the night sky and fly out over the dark Atlantic to intercept Soviet TU-95 Bear bombers patrolling our east coast during the Cold War. Then well join a 4-ship of Eagles to take on an unknown number or type of adversaries. See how our four jets did against six bad guys. During that fight well peel off to go 1 v 2 against F-16s. I push as close as I dare against the barriers that would make this book classified. When you see what God enabled that 130 lb. band geek to achieve; youll get it: With God, nothing is impossible. But more importantly, see Gods fingerprints on my life and let me challenge your thinking about His amazing grace.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490845333

Lt Col William M. Spike Jones

I was born at a very young age into a Navy family; yet after growing up hop-scotching the U.S from coast to coast. and attending high school in Italy; the self-described 130 lb. band geek with braces. inexplicably managed to snag a congressional appointment to the USAF Academy, despite the “shot in the dark” estimation of my uninformed high school guidance counselor and the challenges of corresponding with my Florida Congressman from overseas. Who knew Italy doesn’t have members in the U.S. Congress? Remember; this was before Al Gore invented the Internet and Hillary Clinton used it to hide 30,000 classified email. To prove the Air Force hadn’t been hoodwinked, I surprised even myself by graduating. I then spent the following 25 years in the cockpit first; as a student pilot (That’s where they make you start-go figure), followed by several assignments as an instructor pilot, which eventually culminated in a squadron command. Most surprizingly,I was also an award-winning fighter pilot in the world’s undesputed, premiere air superiority fighter of our time – the F-15 Eagle. If you happen to dispute this claim; take it up with my publisher; they wouldn’t print it if it weren’t true. After serving in the Air Force for half its existence, I survived a massive, near-fatal stroke leaving me paralyzed on the left half of my body. I wrote this, my second book, with one hand from a wheel chair. This really happened; it’s not a shameless ploy for pity book sales. My first wife of almost 37 years and I live in Carrollton, Virginia.

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Copyright © 2014 William M. Spike Jones.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-4532-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4533-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014913618

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/31/2014

CONTENTS

About The Author

Why This Book – Why Now?

Dedications

Chapter I Genesis

Chapter II Kingsville

Chapter III A Kid In Jacksonville

Chapter IV Bella Napoli

Chapter V Usafa

Chapter VI Pilot Training

Chapter VII T-38 Faip Life In The Back Seat

Chapter VIII Back To The Front Seat

Chapter IX Learning To Kill

Chapter X Life With One Seat- Maverick’s Got Nothin’ On Me

Chapter XI Hanging Up The G-Suit

Chapter XII Eagles At The Beach

Chapter XIII Wolfhounds

Chapter XIV Back To Pilot Training

Chapter XV It’s Good To Be King

Chapter XVI Colonel Who?

Chapter XVII Back To Florida

Chapter XVIII Knowing When It’s Time To Go

Chapter XVIII A Real Job Can Kill You

Chapter IXX More About Shirley

Chapter XX Life Rolls On

Chapter XXII The Truth About Fighter Pilots

Chapter XXII Parting Thoughts

U. S. AIR FORCE HYMN

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly

Through the great spaces of the sky;

Be with them traversing the air

In darkening storms or sunshine fair

Thou who dost keep with tender might

The balanced birds in all their flight

Thou of the tempered winds be near

That, having thee, they know no fear

Control their minds with instinct fit

What time, adventuring, they quit

The firm security of land;

Grant steadfast eye and skillful hand

Aloft in solitudes of space;

Uphold them with Thy saving grace.

O God, protect the men who fly

thru lonely ways beneath the sky

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lt. Col. Spike Jones (USAF retired) is a US Navy brat who served 25 years as an USAF officer, instructor pilot, squadron commander and fighter pilot after graduating from the USAF Academy. He is an award-winning aviator. He lives with his award-winning wife of 34 years and their children in Carrollton, Virginia. After retiring from the Air Force n 2005, Colonel Jones suffered a massive, near-fatal stroke leaving him paralyzed on the left half of his body. He wrote this, his first book, from a wheelchair in an assisted living facility in Hampton, Virginia.

A Christian fighter pilot?! Is that even possible? Sure; I’m one. In my career, I met many more. You will, too, if you read on!

If you count my four years at the USAF Academy (Why wouldn’t you? They were the four toughest years.); I served in the Air Force for twenty nine years. The Air Force was fifty eight years old in 2005 when I retired. That means I served in the USAF for half of its existence. I don’t think anyone from my sister services can make that same claim. I absolutely loved serving in the Air Force. Loving what you do for a living is a true blessing from above. In my case, I sometimes couldn’t believe they paid me to do the awesome things you’ll read about later. They even paid me bonuses to keep on doing it.

WHY THIS BOOK – WHY NOW?

In May of 2013, due to reasons you’ll read about later, I moved into the Chamberlin Hotel in Hampton, Virginia. The Chamberlin is a senior living facility offering various levels of care and assistance as their clients require. I wound up living in a small apartment there for a year.

As the new kid in town, everyone was interested in my background and drilled me with questions. After learning of my unique high school experience and my long career flying in the Air Force; more than one fellow resident told me, You should write a book. So I did. I decided to structure it as I see it. My life, as extraordinary as it is, is so solely because of a series of blessings from God. By detailing my flying career, I hope to attract those interested in military aviation (who isn’t?) and reveal God’s gracious plan of salvation to someone who might not be tempted to pick up a Bible.

DEDICATIONS

•  To my Godly mother.

•  To the Pastors, lay leaders, and Sunday school teachers of America’s churches.

•  To the military family.

•  To the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of America’s armed forces.

•  To Shirley; my incredible wife, convincing proof of how much our God loves me.

•  To my children; Laura, Jacob, and niece, Katie.

•  To my cousin, Anita

•  To the memory of my friends, Milton Heath (Kathy Farmer’s father) and Colonel Pat Murphy Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Psalms 116:15, NIV)

•  To Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church (HFBC) in Smithfield, Virginia (think ham.)

•  To the Adult II Bible Study Class at HFBC led by Bill Myers.

•  To Rob and Kathy Farmer.

•  To the PT Divas at Belle Harbour Physical Therapy.

•  To the Genesis Rehab Staff at the Chamberlin Hotel.

•  To the staff at the historic (and definitely not haunted) Chamberlin Hotel.

•  To the residents of the Chamberlin.

•  To the participants, volunteers, and quadrupeds of the Horses Helping Heroes Project. Please consider a donation to this wonderful program at horseshelpingheroesproject.com.

WHAT THIS WORK IS

My story based solely on my recollection. At 56 years old, my recollection is beginning to elude me. My sincere hope is that any reader, who, like me, doesn’t aspire to big things, like I didn’t, realizes the Creator of the universe and everything in it has a plan for you (Psalms 139:16).

Your plan was set in motion before He said the first, Let there be… and with His help, you really can do all things (Philippians 4:13). If you accept (And why wouldn’t you? It’s all true!) that a 130 lb. band geek did what’s recorded in this work, you’ll get it: With God, nothing is impossible! (Luke 1:37, NIV). I’m living proof of this.

WHAT THIS WORK ISN’T

100% historically accurate. I’m giving it my best shot with the residual brain damage I have as a result of the stroke I survived six years ago. But consider this:

I’m never wrong. I thought I was once, but I was mistaken.

Professionally edited. I just couldn’t handle that big expense. This may have been a mistake. I relied on my spell-checker and public education for grammar and punctuation. I apologize for errors that escaped my attention and hope they aren’t too distracting.

DISCLAIMER

There is no provision in the Ten Commandments which says Honor thy mother and father as long as they live. So even though my father has gone to heaven before me; I am to continue honoring him. In this work, you may (will) read what could be construed as insults directed at our Army and Navy. How can I honor my father and insult the service to which he devoted thirty years of his life? Any derogatory remarks directed toward my sister services are mere manifestations of good-natured, inter-service rivalry. I know this for a fact:

When it’s time to go to war – It’s One Team – One Fight and nobody does it better than we do!

WHAT I BELIEVE

•  The Bible is the word of God, written by men inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, and preserved through the centuries by God.

•  I’m confined to this wheelchair because God wants a closer relationship with me. It’s like He said, Son, sit down and pay attention! You and I need to talk! The stroke certainly got my attention; and I’ve been sitting for six years, now, but more importantly, it caused me to rely on Him daily. It’s made me mindful of Isaiah 40:31 which says:

They who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on the wings like Eagles, (emphasis, mine), they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not grow faint. (NIV)

Ultimately, everyone should know this happened to me for His glory. This is sometimes hard to see now, but I have faith it is true.

•  The Bible is authoritative and reveals absolute truth (Yes, there is such a thing.) to those wise enough to study it.

I believe what the Bible says about Jesus Christ:

-  He was born of a virgin; making Him fully human (except for our sinful nature) and fully God.

-  Thirty-three years after his miraculous birth, he willingly sacrificed himself on a Roman cross to make atonement for our sins; restoring the possibility of a relationship with God, who is so exceedingly holy, he cannot associate with us in our inherited sinful state.

-  He rose from the dead on the third day, like He said He would, and later ascended to heaven from where He will soon return.

-  He performed all the miracles recorded in the scriptures. These events were foretold centuries before they happened.

-  Like John Calvin, I believe the Bible teaches God chose those who would come to a saving faith in Christ before creation. I believe God is absolutely sovereign. As creator of time, space, matter, energy, and the laws governing them, He has complete control over it all.

-  God is never surprised. According to Romans 8:28, In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (NIV) Not only is He involved in everything, He works it all out for the good (even the bad stuff) of His believers.

•  I believe America has been the preeminent military, economic, and technological power on earth for the last two hundred and thirty-seven years because she has been blessed by God, because of the faith of her founders. They weren’t perfect but examination of the first few years of our nation’s struggle for independence bears witness to the fact that we only survived our founding through the miraculous grace of God. Read David McCullough’s 1776 and you will be amazed that our unprepared, ragtag armed forces defeated the most powerful military on the planet to become an independent nation. Divine intervention is the only explanation. We may not be a Christian nation but there is no denying the fact that America and her form of government were founded on Judeo-Christian principles found in the Bible.

•  I believe God will soon begin withholding His favor if we continue thumbing our national nose at Him. We celebrate what He detests. We gorge ourselves on raw sewage at the movie theaters and in our homes via television. The music we grew up on was vile but nothing compared to the explicit, violent, depraved ear manure to which our kids listen today.

We removed prayer from schools and Christian symbols from our public places. We legalized, condoned, and played accomplice in the death of millions of unborn Americans (60 million and counting at a rate of thousands per week since Rowe v. Wade) - all in the name of women’s rights. Abortion is not a civil rights issue. It is a moral issue! We allowed organizations, like the ACLU, to turn the first amendment on its head. Separation of Church and State (a phrase found nowhere in our founding documents) has been shamefully warped to hyper-secularize a once God-fearing people. The first amendment is meant to keep government out of religion – not to keep religion out of the public arena.

Want to learn how our government is supposed to work? Make time to read the U.S. Constitution; then follow up by reading The Federalist Papers. They were written to explain our form of government to the masses to help ratify our constitution. These are all the text our high schools need to teach government in America’s classrooms.

Don’t make the mistake, like many I’ve heard (including our president), of referring to the USA as a democracy. We are not a democracy! We are a Republic which uses democratic processes to elect our representatives.

•  I believe we are in the end of days. Christ will return very soon like He said He would.

•  I believe the only event left to occur before His return is the completion of His church. When the last person God chose before creation comes to a saving faith in Jesus Christ and accepts His gracious offer of salvation – the church will be complete and He will return to collect His bride (How the Bible refers to His church). Could one of you readers be that person? I hope so. I’m ready! Is everyone else? You had better get ready! Read on to discover why and how. You could be a hero in heaven if you’re the one to get Jesus back down here. A recurring theme in the Bible is the last will be first. So if you’re the last to seek and receive salvation through Christ, you’ll be first in line at the Pearly Gates. That would be so cool!

WHAT I DON’T BELIEVE

•  I don’t believe in luck, karma, fate, or coincidence. If what goes around, comes around; it’s because God ordained it that way. I say again, God is sovereign. He is in absolute control and does whatever pleases Him. Everything that happens; good or bad, as assessed from our miniscule perspective in our fallen sinful state, does so in accordance with His perfect plan and purposes.

•  I don’t believe God allowed my stroke as punishment for a sin or wrong-doing or a right-not doing [knowing what you ought to do and not doing it is sin(James 4:17).]. Someone was brutally punished two thousand years ago for all my sins (past and future). Jesus Christ took 100% of my punishment. It would be unjust for me to be punished now for a sin debt which was paid in full on the cross. God’s justice is perfect. The Bible teaches when I accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation as a boy in Jacksonville, FL; I was clothed in His righteousness. (II Corinthians 5:21 & Isaiah 61:10) Many theologians refer to this as the Great Exchange (our sin for His righteousness). So get this:

When God looks at me now, He sees Jesus’ righteousness, not my messed up attempts to be good enough to deserve His favor. His grace is awesome! It doesn’t get better than that! – Jesus did it all; I do nothing but believe, and we both look the same to God (like twin brothers!) and we’ll both spend eternity in paradise together. Paradise is how Jesus described heaven to the repentant thief on the cross beside Him. Heaven must be an incredible place, if Christ, who created every place in the universe, singles heaven out as paradise. The Bible says that no one can even conceive how wonderful the place is which God is preparing for those He loves. (I Corinthians 2:9, NIV)

•  I don’t believe there is a government conspiracy to cover up UFO sightings, crashes, or visitations.

•  I don’t believe the earth was visited by aliens in ancient times and shared their technology enabling humans to do things astonishing to us now. Just because we can’t figure out how the ancients did it; doesn’t mean ET taught them.

Science says the earth is 4.5 billion years-old - Nonsense. Science needs it to be this old to support its flawed theories.

•  I don’t believe Charles Darwin’s theory on the origin of the species (evolution) holds water. It is taught to our children as undisputed fact. This is a lie. The theory of evolution is highly disputed! Our children should be familiar with the theory because of its profound impact on our culture, but they need to know the truth – the theory is highly disputed and doesn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny. Why don’t our schools teach our children the truth?! Political Correctness is going to bite us in the backside some day!

GRACE 101

-  Simply put, grace is unmerited or undeserved favor – receiving something of benefit you don’t deserve, didn’t pay for, work for, or even ask for. Applied to me; glimpses of grace look like repeated blessings from God, throughout my lifetime for no other reason than it pleases Him to bless me. But not because of anything I did. By nature, God is loving, generous, and eager to bless. GRACE writ large is remembered by the acrostic: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. (Get it?) Why me? Because, He loves me. Why does He love me? I don’t know, I’m not very loveable.

-  But it’s not just me. Ever look up John 3:16? Why not? Please go do that now, I’ll wait… Now you know. It’s not only me; it’s everyone in the world which includes everyone. Pretty cool, huh? You should read the Bible more often. It’s full of coolness like that.

CHAPTER I

GENESIS

Unlike comedian Steve Martin, I was not born a poor black child. Instead, I was born to a US Navy Sailor and his wife in the small, southern Alabama, town of Bay Minnette in the fall of 1957. (Read: Sputnik baby) Dad was stationed at Baron Field.

My given name is William Michael. My parents wanted to name me after my father’s youngest brother, Billy, but they didn’t want to call me William, or any of its derivatives, so they called me by my middle name, Michael or Mike. Twenty eight years later, in Montgomery, Alabama, Phil Finch bestowed Spike on me and it’s been Spike ever since.

Both my parents were born and raised in Atlanta during the Great Depression. My paternal grandfather ran moonshine from family stills in the Florida panhandle to the speakeasies on the gulf coast. By contrast, my maternal grandfather was a Baptist preacher who drove electric streetcars in Atlanta after he retired from the ministry. Mom graduated salutatorian of her high school class while Dad stopped going to high school early, to get on with life. In 1949, he enlisted in the Navy. As I understand his plan; he intended to join up for a single hitch to learn how to work on diesel engines. He then planned to get out and work at the Chevrolet plant in Atlanta like others in his family. He re-enlisted after that first hitch to buy a green convertible. He retired in 1979 as a Lieutenant Commander.

My parents married in 1950. When I arrived on the scene, I had two older siblings, Rick and Karen. The Navy then sent us west. Our family of five, with three children under the age of six, left southern Alabama for southern California.

afterleavingALforCA1958.jpg

After leaving AL for CA, 1958

In San Diego, we lived in base housing on Coronado near NAS (Naval Air Station) North Island. I have few memories of San Diego. However, I do remember the renowned, unfortunate hamster incident:

In our small, second-floor apartment home, my brother, Rick had a pet hamster (or was it a guinea pig?)(Does anyone really know the difference?) I was holding the rodent in question and Rick wanted whatever it was back. I wasn’t immediately forthcoming in surrendering it, so a chase ensued with me out front holding the critter securely in my wee little hands at the end of my outstretched arms just barely out of reach of my faster big brother. I soon ran out of places to escape. My parents’ bedroom had a small balcony with a rail a little over armpit high. That’s where I found myself; on my toes, armpits on the rail, with my arms stretched out to keep the critter out of Rick’s long reach. Somehow the rodent liberated itself from my grasp and began its free-fall sans parachute at 32 feet/sec² to the pavement below. Sometimes, gravity is not your friend. Technically speaking, the varmint converted its potential energy (height) into kinetic energy (motion) which was converted to lethal force upon its rapid deceleration with the pavement. Problem solved. I win! Rick can’t reach it, now! Remember f = ma from high school physics? Neither did the hamster; or was it a guinea pig? Regardless, this was exactly what passed through my keen young mind. Then I pondered; if a hamster and guinea pig were both dropped from the same balcony at the same time, which one would hit the pavement first?

alreadyshowingafascinationwithweaponsin1959.jpg

Already showing a fascination with weapons in 1959

I blame the whole incident on Rick. He should have known better than to trust me with his pet. It’s too bad his pet rodent wasn’t a flying squirrel!

About the time of the unfortunate hamster incident, a baby boy was born to another young Navy family on Coronado. George and Jean Jacobs welcomed their second child, and only son, to the world. They named him Larry. The Jacobs family later plays a significant role in my life; but first, the Navy has a few more moves