He’s the Falcons’ pilot, but roots for the Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 11, 1998 | 11:19 a.m.

No doubt there were a few double takes when members of the Air Force Academy band and football team boarded one of their Boeing 707s for Las Vegas this morning.

One of the co-pilots on one of three planes making the trip from Colorado Springs was Lt. Don Macintyre of the 163rd Air Refueling Wing out of March Air Force Base in Riverside, Calif. And Macintyre, a former reserve wide receiver at UNLV, said he would be wearing his alma mater's hat for all to see.

"I'm sure they'll give me a hard time," Macintyre said. "The Air Force did put me through pilot training. But at the same time, though, I didn't attend the Air Force Academy."

Macintyre, who said he "rode the pine" for ex-Rebel coach Jim Strong and got into a few games in garbage time in 1990 but never caught a pass, worked for two years as a supervisor for a trucking company after graduating from UNLV in 1992. It was during that time that he also garnered his civilian pilot's license.

Macintyre then joined the California Air National guard where he received two more years of active pilot training. He has spent the past two years flying around the world doing refueling missions over places like Iraq and Bosnia.

"Once in a while we get some fun trips like this one, too," Macintyre said.

Still, even on today's trip from Colorado Springs, Macintyre said his plane would refuel a B-1 bomber on the way to Las Vegas.

"That's our main mission," he said. "That's what we do."

Macintyre, who was a quarterback at Dana Hills (Calif.) High School at the same time that Todd Marinovich and Bret Johnson were also in the South Coast League, said he would attend Saturday night's game and then fly part of the team and some of the alumni back afterward.

"I'm sure I'll hear about it if UNLV doesn't win," he said.