[The Dark]

Originally Posted by mpipes

JIMMY BUFFET
Buffet had a colorful life before the war, and so it should not be surprising that his life after the war began continued to be colorful. After the war began, Florida National Guard and Air National Guard pilots and aircraft mechanics were largely activated, leaving a pronounced shortage of pilots for state service, and state governments requested civilian volunteers to take up the slack, enlarging and expanding the role of the civil air patrol organization. Buffet, an experienced multi-engine pilot, joined the CAP and began flying with them, learning to fly a number of military multi-engine aircraft including C-21s and C-130s. After TDM, Buffet ended up co-located with a Marine Reserve Squadron in north Florida, where during his free time, he fooled around on an A-7 simulator, racking up dozens of hours. In mid-1998, he found himself officially “drafted” as a Marine Corps Lieutenant and deployed flying C-130s, C-8As, C-21s, S3s, and A-7Es in a composite Navy Air Squadron operating from Sweden. Considered a true professional, he has a reputation of taking on difficult challenges. Credited with a submarine kill (in an S3) and sinking a Polish missile boat (in an A-7E) as well as one Polish SU-22 kill (in an A-7E).
KAC SR-16 16” w/reflex optic, SiG-229 SAS .357SiG, Walther P88 Compact 9mm, Astra A-100 .45

By 1994, Jimmy already had Navy Survival Training (it's mentioned in the report on his Grumman Widgeon crash in August 1994). I am a little dubious that he'd be flying attack aircraft in the late 90s; by 1998 he's fifty-one years old (turning fifty-two on Christmas Day of that year) and (IRL) he had no jet experience, so he'd either be flying jets after a couple years of off-and-on simulator training or prop aircraft with thirteen years of experience. My personal opinion is he'd more likely remain with prop transport or SAR aircraft, possibly even his personal HU-16C Albatross "Hemisphere Dancer" (which was shot at in Jamaica in 1996 and retired in 2003) to allow younger and fitter guys to take the jet aircraft.