HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Tim Newman was a high schooler sitting in math class, his friend showing him pictures of F-16 Fighting Falcons.
The images stuck. Newman knew he wanted to be a pilot.
Newman has been a naval aviator flying F-18 Hornets for almost nine years now. He saw a little action in the Middle East as part of Operation Southern Watch during the Clinton administration.
There days he's at Hill Air Force Base flying F-16 Falcons with the 388th Fighter Wing as part of a pilot exchange program between the Navy and Air Force. The last thing he thought he'd be doing when he became a pilot was patrolling the skies, guarding the country from rogue passenger jets.
The old Cold War image of two military personnel sitting in some remote missile silo, fingers over red buttons, waiting for orders to launch a nuclear weapon, isn't too far off.
The details, however, are different.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, Air Force pilots have been on patrol across the United States protecting high-profile buildings and national landmarks through Operation Noble Eagle. It's what the pilots are protecting the landmarks from that carry the weight of old Cold War missile silos.
Newman knows that if someone tries to fly an airliner into a building, he'll have to shoot it down, even though he says such a scenario is remote.
"Personally, I'm ready to do it," Newman said about shooting down a passenger jet.
Not that it would be easy. Newman and many other Navy and Air Force pilots have friends who are commercial airline pilots. The prospect of shooting them down weighs heavy.
"But I would expect the same thing if I were an airline pilot," he said.
Since Sept. 11, the nation has seen a renewed patriotism — and a new appreciation for the military and foreign policy — but attitudes at the 388th Fighter Wing haven't changed much.
F-16 maintainer Staff Sgt. David Sullins said he and his peers are as patriotic as they've ever been. But he's noticed a change off base.
"It's refreshing to see the civilian public regain its patriotism," he said.
Newman said he hasn't changed much since the attacks.
In the Navy, aviators have a saying, "train like you fight," Newman said. He said they take training as seriously as they do combat operations.
"Obviously, stakes are a little higher," he said about the combat missions. "However, the mentality remains the same."
The crews that maintain the F-16s that Newman flies have the same responsibility now as they did before Operation Noble Eagle — make sure the plane and the pilot return to base in one piece.
But on the big screen, whether you're an officer or an enlisted man, whether you work on the planes or fly them, the responsibility is the same — protect the country in times of war and in times of peace.
"Our job never changes," said Senior Airman Jeffery Tindle.
E-MAIL: rrogers@desnews.com