In '88 I was a u/t member of the NATO TACEVAL team, learning the in's and out's of evaluating special missions with my mentor, a B52 Nav Rad who had a Masters in Atomic science. We were evaluating the guy's at Hann AFB in SW Germany. They flew the F16A's in the Tri-mission role (precursor to swing role) doing AD, Attack and Strike. Didn't do to well in the last category unfortunatley and, subsequently, the Wing Commander and Base commander had window seats back home to Washington.
For those of you not versed in USAF ways, they didn't scramble on the big launch because of an emb***erance called the "last chance checks" That meant that they would taxi to make their planned launch time, have the "take off" time noted by a member of the distaff and then taxi down the main and back to the holding point where the engineers would then check the ac and remove any offending pins, and finally arm any bombs or missiles etc. A bit girlie but then it was ultimatley safe! Picture the scene, Captain X taxying back to the gingers has a major Hydrazine leak, just passing ATC, so emergency shuts down and vacates Uncle Sam's crook F16A a bit sharpish and runs off upwind. "Bit of bad luck really," we all said later because, in his haste, he had forgotten to apply the handbrake and, as the ac was stopped on a downwards facing bit of concrete.....yes you've guessed it, bloody thing starts to roll, forwards, towards a huge hangar full of ac! Thankfully, for Captain X, it's progress was arrested and it eventually came to a rest with the pitot probe poked through the side of a vehicle. Turns out that it was the staff car of a senior member of the TACEVAL team
Can't recall if Captain X also got a window seat. You really couldn't make it up!
3P