CAPTAIN
RODNEY JAMES
T-37 Instructor Pilot for George W. Bush's Class
REMEMBERING GEORGE W. BUSH . . .
I spent 6 months with George W. Bush as he completed his basic pilot training in the T-37. I remember my first thoughts concerning him were that, ‘it was very unusual to have a student pilot who had graduated from Yale University going through the program.’ I thought all those Ivy Leaguers were going to Wall Street or were writing poetry somewhere. <READ MORE>
BIOGRAPHY
Rodney James was commissioned as a United States Air Force 2nd Lieutenant in 1964 after completing Air Force ROTC at Clemson University. James completed undergraduate pilot training at Webb AFB in Big Spring, Texas in 1965, and then advanced pilot training in the F-4C at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida in 1966.

James completed 100 combat missions over North Vietnam in 1967, flying from DaNang AFB, in DaNang, South Vietnam. He subsequently instructed pilots in the T-37 at Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, Georgia, from 1967-1970. James left active duty in 1970 and joined the Air Force Reserves where he flew C-141 Transports from Charleston AFB, Charleston, South Carolina. In 1972 he became a pilot for Delta Air Lines. James left the Reserves in 1975 and retired from Delta in 2001.