“Flip… everything.”
Wilson drew a breath. “Sir, he said you’ve been kicking his ass about the ‘lackadaisical attitude’ of the ready room. Sleeping till lunch, the video games. He also implied that Sponge gooned the approach, and that’s what led to the foul-deck wave-off and the low-fuel barricade. Sponge got up and bolted out the back with the XO shouting for him to stop. When he didn’t, XO put Sponge in hack. I visited Sponge a few hours ago and he’s pissed — no longer the happy-go-lucky Sponge. Skipper, Sponge flew a night barricade in varsity conditions. The jet’s broke, but he did well.”
Cajun looked away with his jaw clenched. “What happened in CATCC last night?” he asked. Wilson told him. As the CO stared at the bulkhead, his jaw tightened even more.
In his mind, Cajun summed up the results of the past 24 hours. Raven 406 in a heap below with such catastrophic damage she would probably never fly again. One of his nugget pilots banished to his stateroom with who-knows-what damage to his confidence. His Operations Officer and, by extension, VFA-64 publicly humiliated in front of the senior pilots in the Wing. His own authority usurped by the XO. He could hardly comprehend it all. Less than one month into the deployment, and just days before commencing the combat operations they trained all year for, the Ravens were in the shitter as the scuttlebutt topic of Valley Forge, and soon the Atlantic Fleet — once the e-mails started flying, which they surely had. He would visit Sponge, free him, and put him back on the flight schedule. Beginning the process of rehabilitating him as an aviator was all important. Get back on the horse. He would also need to have a “come-to-Jesus” with Saint and visit CAG. But first, he needed to repair the damage to Wilson.
“Flip, I believe you handled the situation in CATCC well,” he said softly. “It takes two years to build a jet, but 25 to place a ‘Sponge’ in a squadron. You made a call, a recommendation, and your logic was sound. I want you to know I’m always confident when you’re in CATCC.” Wilson knew the CO was much too professional to bad-mouth his XO in front of a subordinate, but the message was clear.
“Thank you, sir,” Wilson replied.
Cajun turned to depart and over his shoulder said, “All Officers Meeting, followed by APM tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
When he reached the ready room door, he turned again and added, “Put me with Sponge on the next event, preferably a 1v1 with him leading.” Cajun winked with the trace of a smile.
