High Flying Humor at Williams Field Air Force Base
At Williams Field Air Force Base (1941-1993), humor was important for helping pilots-in-training relax and build team spirit. Each flight class created its own special identity with unique mascots and funny mottos to solidify their bond and help make it through the Air Force’s tough training program. Teamwork was important to make sure groups could work well together in stressful situations. The base, affectionately called Willie, trained some of the best pilots in the world, while also serving as an environment for deep and lasting friendships.
This exhibition features objects and stories from the Spirited Devils, the 11th class of trainees to graduate from Willie in 1991, which is also referred to as 91-11. Their mascot was the Tasmanian Devil, a cartoon character popular in the 1990s. Equally as humorous was the class’s motto, “Hurling through the air” rooted in an inside joke among the class.
Undergraduate Training Pilots spent their free time off-base, relaxing and bonding with their friends. At their first party as trainees, members of Class 91-11 took over the stage when the band took a break and started playing music on the spot. Impressed by their whirlwind energy, one person at the party said they came through like the Tasmanian Devil. Because of this, Class 91-11 chose the Tasmanian Devil as their mascot during their time at Willie.
Back on campus, Class 91-11 joined Willie’s longstanding tradition of painting ceiling tiles to reflect their unique experiences. In the summer of 1990 when they began training, the Arizona heat hit a record high of 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The extreme heat, combined with high altitude and flying speed, caused most of the pilots to vomit, or "hurl," which is humorously shown on the “Hurling Taz” tile.
Class bonding experiences at Willie included fun and playful activities. To celebrate a pilot’s first solo flight on the T-37 training aircraft, their classmates put them in a specially decorated tub and dunked them into icy cold water while everyone cheered and laughed. In this picture, Charley Camplen of class 91-11 is getting ready to be dunked after completing his first solo flight on a T-37.
Yearbooks from Willie, like this one from Class 76-08, show the friendships formed by each group of trainees. The page on the left is a collage of funny pictures and captions, like today’s memes, and the page on the right is a joke glossary of terms used by the trainees. While terms like “washed out” were common at all Air Force bases, some were more specific to each class’s unique experiences.
The goal for graduates of Willie’s training program was to fly Air Force jets. However, when the Gulf War ended in February 1991, the U.S. government decided to close Williams Field as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act. This sudden change left the Air Force with too many newly trained pilots. Unfortunately, instead of flying, these recent graduates were assigned to desk jobs for two to three years. To show their frustration, Class 91-11 painted a ceiling tile with their mascot, the wild "Taz," looking sad and stuck at a desk.
Class 91-11’s graduation scarf, designed by Tim Boese, was made to look like a runway. It shows training planes taking off into the sky, along with the funny image of desks with wings landing. This clever design expresses the graduates’ frustration and symbolizes their wish to be flying rather than sitting at a desk. Despite the humor, it also reflects their determination to leave behind the classroom and soar into the skies as pilots. Indeed, the graduates eventually went on to fulfill their dreams of flying planes for the U.S. Air Force.
On June 16, 2024, Class 91-11 reunited for their thirty-third anniversary of graduating with their wings. After three decades away, the Class saw the Exhibit and Willie.
Left to right, back row: Joel Hennings, Dan Welsh, Tim Diersing, Charlie Camplen, Chris Coleman, Todd Dierlam, Keith Fischer, Rob Woodward, and Rick Franklin.
Front row: Wayne Ward, Tom McBride, Tim Boese, John Ferry, and Dave Denman.
Left to right, back row: Joel Hennings, Dan Welsh, Tim Diersing, Charlie Camplen, Chris Coleman, Todd Dierlam, Keith Fischer, Rob Woodward, and Rick Franklin.
Front row: Wayne Ward, Tom McBride, Tim Boese, John Ferry, and Dave Denman.
Charley Camplen, Chris Coleman, and Todd Dierlam came prepared with their class’s flight shirts, wearing them for the first time in three decades.
After visiting the exhibit, the class visited Willie - specifically, the T-37 building.
Left to right, back row: Kieth Fischer, Joel Hennings, Charley Camplen, Chris Coleman, Todd Dierlam, Tom McBride, Dan Welsh, Rick Franklin, and Rob Woodward; front: Wayne Ward, Tim Boese, Dave Denman, and John Ferry.
To preserve and chronicle their time in the East Valley, Class 91-11 continues to donate photographs, videos, and oral history interviews to the Chandler Museum in collaboration with Hannah Boese. Below are their captured memories.
Undergraduate Pilot Training is split into three phases. Phase One prepares future pilots for being in the air, and includes classroom work, parachute landing falls (PLFs), and Zero-G preparation.
Pictured here is the first meal together, provided by the Base Chapel, of Undergraduate Pilot Training, or UPT, for Class 91-11. Undergraduate Pilot Training, or UPT, consisted of an intense syllabus of three phases. Phase One was preparation for the flying, including parachute training.
Capt. William Beard, "Wild Man," on the first day of Pilot training.
Joel Hennings had his navigator wings before going through UPT.
The class chooses which of the patch designs, created by John Terry that they wanted to be distinguished by. Sitting at the table is Joel Hennings, with artist John Terry standing behind him.
Pictured are Krista Supich, Todd Dierlam, Sortiros Molos, Tim Diersing, Dave Denman preparing to jump, Bennet Blansett, Scott Weiss, Rick Heymach, and Wayne Ward in the foreground.
Chris Foster, John Ferry, and Tim Boese on the ground.
One stage of PLF training was a type of parasailing, but rather than a boat pulling, a truck. Once airborne, the pilot could then practice falling safely from a plane with their parachute.
John Terry and Wayne Ward watching Marty Cote falling.
A number of airplane hangars, original to Willie, are preserved on the National Register of Historic Places. One can be seen from the Barrio Brewery at Willie today.
Phase One training included preparation for emergency ejection from an airplane. The apparatus William Beard is getting strapped into simulates a seat ejecting its occupant.
Chris Foster was excited to get ejected.
Part of practicing for ejection was getting in proper form. Here, Chris Foster is pulling his chin in so that he could be ejected as safely as possible.
From Right to Left: Tom McBride, Dan Marclus, Carmella Lawson, and John Holt.
Right to left: Sortiros Molos, Dan Welsh, Bob Woodward, and Wayne Ward.
Student Pilots were transported between training sites via van. John Holt, Carmella Lawson, and Dan Welsh are travelling between the flightline and parachute training.
Carmella Lawson was often at the board, tutoring her fellow student pilots.
Joel Hennings, John Terry, and Dave Denman filled their gas masks before a flight.
Seat trainers were used to ensure pilots could quickly and properly fasten and unfasten everything on their seats.
All of the members of Class 91-11 remember being told that their boots would survive – implying that if the worst happened, only the boot would survive. Pilots had to get footprinted in preparation for the case in which only their boot, and foot, survived to identify them.
The second phase of pilot training was all about learning how to fly, using the trainer jet, the Cessna T-37, or “the Tweet.”
Phase Two was a big deal – here, the officers actually flew a plane.
Class 91-11 ready to fly for the first time, posing in front of the Tweet! Photo courtesy of Tom McBride.
