BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

“During this fight, I aggressively maneuvered the F-15, and it went out of control.... Rotating upside down at 180 degrees, it was the wildest ride. I put in anti-spin controls, but the F-15 nosedived into a vertical spin and then a flat spin. “In most aircraft, it’s difficult to recover from a flat spin. The F-15 didn’t respond. It wouldn’t recover. Less than a second later, I initiated emergency procedures. That was hard! I knew this plane. It was a treasure to the nation. I’d just fired a missile from it a week earlier. Now I was going to have to ditch it. “Then I realized I may have hesitated too long—and could die in the fireball. I was spiraling fast. At 2,000 feet above the ground, I pulled the ejection seat, knowing a lot of good pilots die from ejecting.” The ejection shot Pete straight up at 30 to 40 G's. The incredible force slammed his head against the seat and yanked his shoulder while the jet continued to spin. At 1800 feet, Pete maneuvered the parachute to avoid landing in the fire from the crash. Looking down at rocks, cactus and the fireball, Pete prayed, “Lord, take care of my knees and back.” The parachute worked, breaking the impact as he crash-landed into a small section of sand. He rolled, landing with his back against a tumbleweed, 300 yards south of the burning F-15. Awaiting the Verdict Whisked to the emergency room, Pete’s injuries were being treated when Jen got there. Six months pregnant, and with two younger children in tow, her elegant grace reminded Pete of the eye of a storm. Peaceful and quiet, while all those around her spun in circles, she bent to kiss her husband. “I’m glad you’re still here.” No tears. No drama. Pete would have married her again right then. “The word the Lord had given my mother was accurate,” Pete recalls. “I had a great fall. Although no bones were broken, my injuries weren’t the end of the fall. I was grounded for three months while two different boards investigated the accident. “If the boards ruled that pilot error caused the crash, I would be grounded forever. The first board determined it was my fault. That was one of the blackest times of my life. I couldn’t imagine my last flight ending on such a note. Nor could I imagine being grounded. The only thing that kept me going was the word of the Lord through my mom. I clung to His admonition not to give up. “The second board exonerated me. A flight control surface called “the elevator,” makes the nose move up or down. There’s one on the left and the right. They found that an elevator had malfunctioned, which meant the plane couldn’t recover. I was restored to flying.” Life After the Crash From 2006 to 2010, Pete and Jen lived in Florida where he became a squadron commander, shooting and evaluating live air-to-air missiles. While there, Jen gave birth to their fourth child, Jacob. Afterward, they were sent to Hawaii where Pete spent two years working joint military efforts in the Pacific. His function was to develop new technologies for use by the military. Pete and Jen’s backyard overlooked Pearl Harbor. “I was sent to Fort Worth to attend a meeting at Lockheed Martin,” Pete recalls. “Following that, I drove to KCM. Jen and I had sown faithfully into the Citation X, and I hoped to see it. The plane wasn’t there, but I got to visit the hangar. I had a painting of an F-15, signed by the artist, which said Undefeated in Combat. I thought it would look great in the hanger and decided to give it to Papa Kenneth. “A month later, I heard that Papa Kenneth and Mama Gloria were going to speak in Hawaii. I called KCM and explained that I wanted to contact the flight crew to give them the painting. On the night they spoke, the six of us were in line with hundreds of people waiting to get a seat when Papa Kenneth’s chief pilot escorted us to the front row. We were invited to have dinner with them the next evening! Papa Kenneth and I talked about flying and faith for three hours. Afterward, he took off his watch and gave it to me. He said, ‘You go flying with this, and pray for me when you do.’ “I gave him my grandfather’s watch which my grandmother had given me. We agreed to fly wearing those watches and pray for one another. He liked the painting so well that he hung it in his office. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship that was established on faith, flying and fellowship.” Having been promoted, now Colonel Pete Ford was placed in charge of hundreds of people at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. As the adversary tactics commander, for two years he simulated the bad guys in combat training. Ready for his next assignment, he was surprised when asked, “Would you work with scientists to help them understand what we need in the defense department?” Pete traded in his flight suit for a business suit and moved with his family to the San Francisco area, near Napa Valley. The Lord’s calling moved them from advanced flying to advanced science. In 2016, after 26½ years of service, Pete retired from the Air Force. “Now I’m an executive near Silicon Valley,” says Pete. “As I look back over my life, I often say partnership with KCM meant everything to me. The camaraderie you experience in combat is the same with those of us who are Partners with KCM. It’s a different kind of warfare but it has greater eternal consequences. “Learning to live by faith from an early age was crucial to my success. My call sign, Shadow, was given to me years ago, after a training flight in Egypt. I like knowing what kept me alive countless times was living under “the shadow of the Almighty,” from Psalm 91. “One thing I know is that the Holy Spirit loves to fly. I think God is happiest inverted (upside down). When I get to heaven, some of the first words I want to hear from the Lord are these: Shadow, do you want to take a ride in My chariot?” V * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Join Pete, Jen & the rest of our Holy Ghost gang of believers. Partner with KCM today! kcm.org/partnernow 1-800-600-7395 ************************************************************* BVOV : 17

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