Like any university of note, Fighter Pilot University has an extensive athletic program.  Fighter pilots are very competitive people.  In the air, whether winning a mock air-to-air engagement or dropping the best practice bombs, or on the ground, especially during free time with the buds, fighter pilots want to win. 

Most of these athletic activities involve competition for money or to see who pays for the next round of drinks.  Just like in the air, rivalry can be intense and when a certain game pits one squadron against another, the intensity level steps up very quickly.

A-10 "Warthog" Thunderbolt II
Photo by Gilherme Bystronski

All our athletic events require a serious adherence to tradition and etiquette that is at the very core of being a fighter pilot.  To sway from either, tradition or etiquette can easily cost the person infringing on protocol a round of drinks for his friends.  Something as simple as speaking a prohibited word can be a violation.  Fighter pilots do not say h**d, they say cranium.  Fighter pilots do not say b*x, they say container.  Fighter pilots do not point with their finger during day-to-day activities or during a game.  If someone asks who’s next, the appropriate response is to use a bent elbow to point to the proper person.  This spirit runs through almost everything a fighter pilot does, including our athletic programs.

You will notice that the individual who has “the hammer” starts many of these games.  That normally means the person who lost the last game but sometimes just the opposite, the previous winner.  However, during certain games the hammer can be taken away and now that person will direct the continuation of the game. 

Fighter pilots believe in fair play and adherence to the rules unless cheating is necessary to absolutely ensure a win.  So the rules you read below may be bent as long as it’s in the name of friendly competition.

If you have an activity that your campus (fighter squadron) enjoys, send it our way and we’ll incorporate it into Fighter Pilot University. 

Fighter Pilot University Athletic Director

Oh yeah, almost forgot.  We know the first thing you were asking when you got on this page was, where's the school mascot?  Like any other major university we've got ours too. Introducing the Fighter Pilot University mascot, Capt. Harold Beaver.

Fighter Pilot University, home of the ragin', fightin', angry Beavers.