Maverick. Kaos. The Red Barron. The call signs of famous pilots may sound cool but fighter pilot Major John “Rain” Waters says there’s a secret behind them.
“You get zero say in it. It’s usually based on something you did or a personality trait or quality about you,” said Major Waters during an episode of the Profoundly Pointless podcast.
Major Waters says many call signs are actually acronyms.
“I can’t tell you what mine stands for and if someone comes out and just tells you, you look at them funny because they are probably lying to you,” said Major Waters.
The longtime F-16 pilot says call signs are also a way of keeping people humble.
“If you get someone in your unit who thinks they might get away with something or that they’re better than other people or whatever it might be, they’re usually quickly humbled and it happens with a call sign that sticks with them for the rest of their life,” said Major Waters.
Major Waters joined the United States Air Force after 9/11. He says each branch of the military has a unique tradition when it comes to call signs.
The Marines and the Navy are notorious for like literally some of the worst call signs and by the worst, I mean just brutal. Like man, they must have really hated you.” said Major Waters.
To hear more about life as a fighter pilot, check out the link below to listen to the entire episode.