I am a retired Air Force pilot with 27 years of service. I flew F-4Bs, Cs, Ds, and Es. Most of my F-4 time was in the D series. Wonderful and exciting to fly. Just imagine a roller coaster that lasted for hours, not minutes or seconds but by the hour. I also flew the F-5 Freedom Fighter, models B, C, D, E, & F. I was an IP (Insttuctor Pilot) in both aircraft. I was in combat for 2 tours and 500+ hours in the F4. I am also a charter member of the first F-5 Fighter Weapons School Training Squadron. Think of Tom Cruise and the Top Gun movie services. I was not the only one,just one of the first 6 Instructors who were selected as chatter pilots for the first Squadron of the Fighter Training School.
OK, so what? Well, I am not writing this to impress anyone with my abilities, but rather to impress you with the abilities of other people, namely two others. Orthopaedic Shoulder Surgeon Martin R. Coleman, MD, and Orthopaedic Surgeon, Joint Reconstruction, John D. Burrow, are two of the finest Surgeons I have ever been pleased to meet. Each of these two gentlemen is responsible for the repair or replacement of the worn out bones and joints in my body. True to their titles, Surgeon Coleman with my right shoulder and Surgeon Burrow with the rest, two hips and one knee. They are both Orthopaedic Surgeons at the Orthopaedic and Spine Center in Newport News, Virginia. I am trying to show you my credentials since they are Germane to this effort. Neither the USA Government, nor Military, nor our Air Force, nor any public service organization wants to lose military pilots since we are hard to come by and that means a large effort is expended to get us and keep us healthy and wise. Flight Surgeons are assigned to every flying squadron to ensure our health care is the finest available. I hope that means that I have been taught how to recognize good medical care, ours was the best, bar none.
Both gentlemen have a consideration for their patients that surpasses all others. I do not know how these two pull it off, but when you talk with them you come away with the knowledge and belief that you have just sttuck the Mother Lode of knowledge and concern in the medical industry. Consult them and see how they treat you. I think you will come out of that meeting with the same viewpoint that I have. They do not come any better anywhere you look.
-Richard Strunk