Going through Air Force pilot training at what was Williams Air Force Base (now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport), we used tactical call signs for our training flights, and one of those was “Foe.” The numeric portion of the call sign was determined by the last two digits (minutes) of your scheduled takeoff time
One day, a good old boy from Georgia was the lead pilot for a four-ship training mission of T-38s scheduled to take off at 44 minutes past the hour. You can imagine what it sounded like in his Southern drawl when he called:
“Willy Tower, this is Foe 4-4 with four for takeoff.”
Rich Martindell
