Although he had no flight controls, my RO often flew my aircraft.
When he said, "Break Port!" my F-4 magically broke port.
When he said, "Judy," the aircraft was his.
When he said, "I've got the SAM, you've got the target, continue," I trusted him with my life.
He punched flairs and chaff when needed, and did not when not needed. I did not have to tell him.
He found bogies/bandits I could never see.
He warned me of our flight leads nasty flight tendencies.
He kept me from doing stupid things that I thought I really wanted to do.
He also always got the "ugly one."
We trained together, planned together, fought together... and we even duked it out one night aboard ship for what, we don't remember, and then manned up the next morning going 'downtown'.
We were a team. We trained hard. We had pride in our mutual performance. We worked hand in glove. And we both saved each others bacon. Flying solo is for the ego. Flying in combat is better with a two man foxhole, when both are experts.
I was never a weak pilot, but still, I always relied on my partner. Fortunately the ROs I flew with in combat were the best! A couple of others, not so much.
Very different things, though they meet somewhere in the middle
