After serving 4 years in the Air Force as an enlisted maintainer on the F-15 fighter jets, Jeff Hill was commissioned in December 2002 and was the first cadet from Detachment 001 at the University of Alaska Anchorage to complete pilot training and receive the coveting silver pilots wings. After completing pilot training in 2004, he served 3 years as an instructor pilot at Columbus AFB, MS before transferring to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska in January 2008 to fly C-17s. Flying C-17s in Alaska was his dream assignment, and it truly was all he had hoped for. Sadly, he was killed along with three other crew-members when their plane went down on 28 July 2010. The Jeff Hill Legacy Fund was created shortly after the accident with the mission of providing financial assistance for young cadets in the Air Force ROTC program.
Jeff was what I like to call ‘the ultimate success story.’ We met as two 18 year old kids right out of basic training with our entire Air Force careers ahead of us. Neither of us really knew what was coming, but right away I could tell there was something more for him. He radiated this confidence, not to be confused with ego, and an understanding of the world around him that I had never seen before. He wasn’t one to sit back and let everything, and everyone, take care of him. He knew he could make a difference and wasn’t afraid to put himself out there to make it work, and perhaps most importantly, “no” never seemed to be the final answer for him. He didn’t accept “no” when he was first denied acceptance into a commissioning program. He didn’t accept “no” when he didn’t get his pilot slot after the first board he went up for, and he really didn’t accept “no” after being told he would never fly again and would probably be separated from the Air Force after being diagnosed with a chronic medical condition not long after graduating UPT.
To Jeff, these were just temporary setbacks. Flying the C-17 in Alaska was the only thing he wanted to do and he was going to make it work, which ultimately he did. He believed in himself and pushed to find the answers he wanted…and needed. He finally got to where he wanted to be, but even though he was pushing for what he wanted in the days ahead, he somehow still knew how to stay in the present as well. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring and while yes, it’s important to think about and plan for your future, you also have to think about and take advantage of today. You have to make the most of the here and the now. I remember a conversation I had with Jeff about that very thing. We were finally back in Alaska and he was flying again, and this time in the only plane he ever wanted to fly – the C17. We started talking about future assignments – what we wanted to do, where we wanted to go, what he wanted out of his career, and so on. Then he stopped and said, “You know, I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to do the best job I can in this job, and take care of my people the way I feel they deserve to be taken care of. If my best doesn’t get me what I want, then it just wasn’t meant to be”…and that was the end of the conversation.
It shouldn’t always be about what you need to do for the next assignment, or when I have more of this I’ll do that. It’s about taking charge. Taking care of the responsibilities to the best of your abilities, and making the most of it now. You might think I’m contradicting myself here, but there has to be a balance. Yes, fight for what you want and believe in yourself to know that some of the most seemingly lofty goals are indeed attainable, but don’t always make it about the future. Take care of the ‘now’ and if you do it right, the ‘future’ will come.
Rachael Hill
Surviving Spouse of Captain Jeffrey A. Hill, USAF
