By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Dillon Lecture Series kicked off again Tuesday after more than 18 months away due to the pandemic.
The speaker was Colonel Mark Tillman who was a pilot for Air Force One. Tillman was chosen as the nation’s 12th Presidential Pilot and served as commander of Air Force One for eight years under President George W. Bush. Tillman talked about how he became the most important pilot in the free world.
“After I graduated (from college) my plan was to just be an engineer,” said Tillman.”They sent me to an intelligence unit technology division where I was designing rocket engines.”
After some time Tillman decided he wanted to do more.
“You can only design so many rocket engines,” Tillman said. “I applied to pilot training and the rest is history.”
Tillman spent most of his time flying C-130 cargo planes all over the world before getting his chance to head the group flying Air Force One. Tillman was the pilot on Air Force One when the September 11 terrorist attacks happened. He spoke about the challenges of keeping the president safe and having to react moment to moment.
“We took off at 9:55 (from Sarasota, Florida) . We were getting word about what was going on with Flight 93 over the Ohio Valley that they (passengers) are trying to take control of the aircraft,” Tillman said. “So that’s kind of giving hope for us. But within minutes of heading to Washington D.C. everything changes again, the plane is gone.”
Despite being in the cockpit, Tillman says he was very aware of the conversations going on in the other parts of the plane.
“Everybody was right below the cockpit in the president’s quarters,” Tillman said. “At one point I came down to interject what (then Chief of Staff) Andy Card needed. Then after that it became easier, Andy Card would come to the cockpit. We’d sit down and discuss all of the various options.”
Eventually the conversations between President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were piped into the cockpit for Tillman and the crew to hear.
It wasn’t the only tricky mission Tillman had flying President Bush around. Tillman also talked about the time President Bush decided he was having Thanksgiving dinner with the troops in Iraq.
“In 2003 the President said he’s going into Baghdad whether we like it or not. He advised us that he's going to go have Thanksgiving dinner with the troops,” Tillman said. “I get called over to the White House and given my marching orders to come up with a plan of attack.”
Tillman says the president did not want the military to get involved to limit the risk against the service men and women. At the time of takeoff from Texas, fewer than 10 people knew the president was going to Iraq.
Tillman says while he was the head of Air Force One flight wing he always took into account all of the staff and personnel that it took to fly, maintain and staff the plane that carried the president. His last mission was to fly the now civilian former President Bush back to Texas. He resigned from the Air Force One crew after that.
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