I saw a tremendous flash, and in that flash there then were multiple streams of movement.

The one that caught my attention first,

moving from F to forward, was of an F5

that just after the fuselage started to just part

and it essentially started to crack in half.

Hey, welcome back to The Merge. I am your host, Vincent Aiello. Whether in combat or just

everyday life, a person like you or me is more vulnerable to threats alone than with a buddy. A partner, as we all know,

can help you out of a pitfall or, more ideally, help you avoid falling in one in the first place.

For this reason, the basic air combat fighting element is a flight of two aircraft. It's known as a

section in the Navy and Marine Corps and two ship in the Air Force.

But the two crews in these flights meet in advance for a briefing on that day's mission

and the flight specifics, like the weather and what they expect to be doing.

After the briefing, the crews then gear up for the flight together, start up at the same

time and taxi and take off together.

They fly the entire mission in a coordinated manner before returning to base and debriefing the

flight again together. Pilots may fly with different wingmen on any given day, but for that

short period of time, a flight lead and his wingman are inseparable.

As the titles imply, the flight lead is responsible for the section's conduct and activities,

being at the right places at the right time, and the wingman follows the flight lead,

striving always to be in the proper position performing the prescribed tasks.

But each of them always watches out for the other, and when something happens to one, it affects the other. One voice has been missing from our story so

far, and you found out why at the end of the last episode. Stickett's wingman was Jeremy

...