The chief of staff of the US Air Force
decided that he would personally intervene in the recruiting crisis affecting the country’s armed services. So, he directed that a nearby Air Force base be opened and that all eligible young men and women be invited. As he and his staff were standing near a brand new F-15 fighter jet, a pair of twin brothers walked up to them.
The chief of staff stuck out his hand and introduced himself. He looked at the first young man and asked, “Son, what skills can you bring to the Air Force?”
The young man looked at him and said, “I’m a pilot.”
The general got all excited, turned to his aide and said, “Get him in today, all the paperwork done, everything, do it!” The aide hustled the young man off.
The general looked at the second young man and asked, “What skills can you bring to the Air Force?”
The young man said, “I chop wood.”
“Son,” the general replied, “we don’t need wood choppers in the Air Force, this is the 20th century!”
“Well,” the young man said, “you hired my brother!”
“Of course, we did,” said the general, “he’s a pilot!”
The young man rolled his eyes and said,
“You’re not getting it. I have to chop it before he can pile it!”
A helicopter was flying above Seattle
when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to the airport.
The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign and held it up to the helicopter’s window. The sign said, “Where am I?” in large letters.
The people in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign and held it to the window of their building. Their sign read, “You are in a helicopter.”
The pilot smiled, waved, looked at the map, determined the course to steer to the SEATAC airport and landed safely.
After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the “You are in a helicopter” sign helped him determine the position.
The pilot responded, “I knew that had to be the electric supply building because similar to their help-lines, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer!”
