Their aircraft and their units have been tagged with names fierce and fearsome.
During their combined flying careers, Col. Rick Wedan and Col. Paul Fitzgerald have piloted Eagles and Fighting Falcons. Between them, they’ve flown as members of the Redhawks and Vampire Bats.
When it comes to their own handles, well, that’s a different story. In one case, it’s actually a “Toy Story.”
We recently noted the transitions when the two local F-15 Eagle pilots exchanged command of the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Fighter Wing. When Buzz retired, Snap became the Redhawks’ wing commander.
Buzz? That’s Wedan. His nickname was inspired by Buzz Lightyear, the character in the “Toy Story” films.
The toy spaceman “is kind of bold and brash and annoying,” the Vancouver aviator explained.
Fitzgerald became “Snap” in 1995, while based in Japan. It replaced the name he inherited after joining the Vampire Bats of the 44th Fighter Squadron.
“Guano” — bat poop — was the unfortunate nickname of all incoming pilots, Fitzgerald said.
“Usually, a pilot will use this call sign for a couple of months while he goes through mission qualification training. By that time, he has probably done something noteworthy and he will go through a naming ceremony to get his personalized name shortly after finishing the training.”
For the Hockinson resident, it happened during a joint training exercise with the Australian Air Force. At one point, an Australian F-18 Hornet pilot invited Fitzgerald home to have dinner and watch some rugby on TV.
When his hostess started to clean up after dinner, Fitzgerald wanted to repay her hospitality by helping in the kitchen.
The wife’s response? “Well, aren’t you a sensitive new-age fighter pilot!”
It was quickly abbreviated to “SNAFP.” With minor editing, Fitzgerald had his new call sign: “Snap.”
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
