Joe Priester never planned on the Army. He joined the Air Force at 18, spent six years flying on AWACS radar planes, and watched 9/11 unfold from a locked-down base — and walked out of that day determined to become a pilot. Twenty-four days after leaving the Air Force, he was back in basic training, this time headed for Army flight school.
In this episode, Joe walks us through flying the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior — the Army's smallest, fastest, most maneuverable scout attack helicopter — through tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq was quiet for him (his call sign was literally "the White Dove"). Afghanistan wasn't. He takes us inside the two-day stretch in August 2008 that changed everything: a vehicle-borne IED at the gate, a danger-close CASEVAC mission that pulled five wounded soldiers out under fire, and an engagement the next day that lasted over 20 hours.
We also talk about what came after — retiring in 2017, flying helicopter EMS today, and what he tells his own son, now an airborne infantryman, about carrying all of this.
TIMESTAMPS:
01:50 – Wanting to be military since childhood (GI Joe, grandfather)
03:18 – Joining the Air Force out of high school (1997)
04:18 – Air Force basic training, Lackland AFB
06:39 – Operation Northern/Southern Watch deployments
08:14 – What a typical AWACS mission looked like
09:08 – 9/11 and Operation Noble Eagle
12:43 – Airborne school & Air Traffic Control course
14:17 – Where he was on 9/11 (Keesler AFB lockdown)
18:21 – Leaving the Air Force, walking away from a $35K bonus
19:xx – Army basic training at Fort Jackson
28:24 – Candidate school at Fort Rucker
33:17 – Flight school begins
45:57 – Selecting the Kiowa Warrior
59:40 – Choosing the 101st Airborne, Fort Campbell
1:03:11 – Deploying to Iraq, stuck in a supply job first
1:07:44 – First flight in Iraq — straight into a firefight
1:16:17 – The "White Dove" nickname
1:22:27 – Coming home, learning Afghanistan is next
1:26:30 – Arriving in Afghanistan (Jalalabad / FOB Fenty)
1:29:34 – First Afghanistan mission — RPGs on day one
1:39:08 – Life on rotation, moving to FOB Salerno
1:39:08 – Aug 17, 2008: VBIED attack at the gate
1:46:49 – Aug 18: FOB attacked overnight → CASEVAC mission begins
2:07:41 – Aug 19: engaging the two vehicles
2:18:43 – Rest of deployment, becoming instructor pilot / Fort Riley
2:22:02 – Retiring in 2017, flying helicopter EMS today
2:24:33 – Hardest part of coming home
2:30:59 – Legacy of Vietnam-era Army aviators
2:34:18 – The Kiowa Warrior's retirement from service
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