Retired Local Navy Pilot
Makes Return Trip to Tailhook

By Tara Barnwell

In 1991, the infamous Tailhook convention scandal took place.

“There was some harassment of female pilots at that convention in Las Vegas,” said Dave Rees, Milford resident, business owner and former Navy pilot. “The whole thing got turned upside down. A lot of people didn’t get promoted because of that convention. I was not in attendance at the time.”

Since then, things have changed for the better at the Tailhook Symposium, and Rees recently returned from Reno, NV, where he attended the convention that celebrated the 100th anniversary of aircraft carrier aviation and reunited former Marine and Navy fliers.

“You have to be a member of Tailhook to go to these conventions and, in order to be a member, you must have physically landed [a plane] on an aircraft carrier,” he added. “There were 1,000 basic attendees this year. Of those 1,000, around 800 were active duty members. With spouses and families, there were over 4,000 participants ranging in age from 23 to 100.

“I really enjoyed talking with the younger aviators, the active duty people,” he said. “Our country is in good shape. Relative to the Marine Corps Aviation and Naval Air Force, the equipment and pilots are in great shape.”
Rees began his Navy career in the early 60s.

“I joined the Navy in 1964,” Rees said. “I went into flight training; it was actually navigator training because of my eyes. My eyes weren’t bad, but the Navy medical personnel thought they would eventually get bad. So, at that point I wasn’t eligible to be a pilot.”

“I flew 130 missions over North Vietnam as a navigator in the back seat. Eventually I was able to get an eye waiver that allowed me to move up to the front seat as a pilot,” he said. “I flew three years over the Mediterranean as a pilot; this was all off of aircraft carriers.

“I’ve had 500 landings on aircraft carriers. I lost a lot of friends during this time, but luckily I came home,” Rees said.
“On one mission, my executive officer was shot down right in front of me,” he continued. “During that mission, there were 30 missiles fired at 30 airplanes. We had three planes coming after us and we were going through gyrations that literally snapped the plane upside down,” he said. “All kinds of emergency lights were blinking; we did get it straightened out and we were able to land on the carrier.”

“I didn’t know on one mission that I’d been hit. I landed and went to go back up a couple of hours later,” he said. “When I did my walk-around of the aircraft before taking off, I noticed a flash in the engine. We had taken a bullet in the engine. I had been hit and didn’t know it. Needless to say, I didn’t fly that aircraft that day,” he said.

Missions are always concerning, depending on the situation.

“A number of tough situations we had was when our government called a ‘bombing pause.’ That’s when governments get together for a peace treaty and while they are meeting, we weren’t allowed to attack anything. But while we laid back, the enemy was restocking and we knew it. We lost a lot of people because of those pauses.”

Feet wet means you are flying over water and going back to the carrier. Feet dry means you are flying over land, and that’s the dangerous part.

“Anytime we were flying feet dry, we were getting shot at,” Rees said. “And that was a lot. I personally know at least 25 people that were killed over the four years I was there.”

Rees was a lieutenant when he left the Navy. His next stop was with Honeywell, and then he started his own mechanical company in New Orleans.

“In 1989, I came back home to Milford. My family had moved to Milford in 1950, so I’ve been here for a long time. I didn’t have anything when I came home. I married my high-school sweetheart and worked for Ed Smith for a while. In 1994, I ran for state assembly against Bill Magee. That was interesting, but I lost,” Rees said.

“I worked at Sam Smith’s Boatyard for a while and in 1997 I started the boat business. In 2016, I sold that business, then sold the storage units about a year ago, so I’m retired now!” he said. “Now I have time to do things like go to the Tailhook Convention and take more trips.”

The Tailhook Association is a private organization comprised of active duty, Reserve, and retired Navy and Marine Corps aviators, defense contractors, and others. The name “tailhook” comes from the device that halts aircraft when they land on aircraft carriers. The infamous Tailhook convention referred to here was a scandal in which U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers and defense contractors committed sexual harassment and sexual assault at the annual Tailhook Symposium in Las Vegas, NV on September 5-7, 1991.

-https://www.britannica.com/event/Tailhook-scandal