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Rick “Wigs” Ludwig RIP

Griz882

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Richard Ludwig has passed away. Not sure if any of you ever met him, I did not, but heard him speak at a Navy League event.

He retired back in the mid-90’s after 28 years of operational experience. He was Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron (VF-31), the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Operational Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-4). He also the commander of Carrier Air Wing Fifteen and on the Chief of Naval Operations staff as lead analyst for Carrier Air Wing Study (CAWS)-2010, which plotted a roadmap for future carrier air wing composition and was the Operations Officer for Commander Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet. He is infamously known as the guy who was running the Tailhook Association during the ‘91 meeting.

His aviation experience included 300 combat missions, 1200 carrier landings, and 7500 flight hours in 35 different aircraft.

In any case, seems like a remarkable career.
 
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zipmartin

zipmartin

Never been better
pilot
Contributor
Wigs was a good guy. VF-31, when he was CO, was on the other side of the hangar from us when I was at VC-12. "Crush" from our squadron was on a x-country to Miramar when he had a "physiological episode" over Little Rock AFB, declared an emergency, and landed at the AFB when they were PPR. After landing and resolving his problem with a visit to the head, he was "invited" to visit the base CO who was enquiring why he had to land there when they were PPR. Prior to entering the CO's office, he removed the name tag from his flight suit. During the ensuing inquiry, he told the CO his name was Rick Ludwig from VF-31. After eventually being dismissed and completing his x-country, he decided it would be wise to advise Wigs of what he had done, just in case the AF CO decided to pursue the issue. Wigs thought it was absolutely hilarious and stated if that CO decided to do anything about it, he would take his whole squadron and land at Little Rock AFB, just for fun. Nothing ever happened.
 
sevenhelmet

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
zipmartin said:
Wigs was a good guy. VF-31, when he was CO, was on the other side of the hangar from us when I was at VC-12. "Crush" from our squadron was on a x-country to Miramar when he had a "physiological episode" over Little Rock AFB, declared an emergency, and landed at the AFB when they were PPR. After landing and resolving his problem with a visit to the head, he was "invited" to visit the base CO who was enquiring why he had to land there when they were PPR. Prior to entering the CO's office, he removed the name tag from his flight suit. During the ensuing inquiry, he told the CO his name was Rick Ludwig from VF-31. After eventually being dismissed and completing his x-country, he decided it would be wise to advise Wigs of what he had done, just in case the AF CO decided to pursue the issue. Wigs thought it was absolutely hilarious and stated if that CO decided to do anything about it, he would take his whole squadron and land at Little Rock AFB, just for fun. Nothing ever happened.
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Great story! Just the fact that someone felt like they could impersonate him and then tell him about it speaks volumes.
 
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