Episode 2 : Captain Stan Hain & Former Captain Jon Shipley

Episode 2 of Death on Call — AC-130 crew camaraderie, chaos, and confessions. Host JL Pelt (former AC-130U Spooky loadmaster) talks with Spectre veterans: Captain Stan Hain (AC-130H loadmaster 2007–2010, 3100+ hours, 700 combat, current MC-130J CSO) and former Captain Jon Shipley (AC-130 EWO, cross-flow H/U model, chief tactics/chief EWO in the 16th SOS).They dive deep into the Spectre vs. Spooky sibling rivalry, moving the 16th SOS from Hurlburt to Cannon AFB, the razor’s edge between supreme confidence and arrogance, the unrelenting “perfection standard” drilled into gunship crews — where one mistake could kill 14 brothers/sisters or leave good people on the ground dead — and the lasting mental health toll: the brain rewired for life-or-death decisions, the struggle to deprogram that impossible standard in civilian life, the exhaustion of always chasing perfection, the numbness to risk, and how that intensity shaped (and sometimes haunted) them long after the last flight.Plus tail swaps gone sideways, eating 4,000+ calories of Otis Spunkmeyer muffins per flight, running with the bulls in the Azores, the weight of heritage (Spirit & Jockey impact areas), and what carrying the gunship legacy really means — pride, brotherhood, and the invisible scars.If you want the raw truth about Spectre life — the triumphs, the shenanigans, the dark humor, and the real mental health cost of that perfection-or-death mindset — this is it.🔔 Subscribe for more AC-130 gunship crew stories, mental health discussions from high-stakes aviation, Spectre vs. Spooky tales, and never-before-heard confessions.💬 Drop your thoughts: How did the gunship “perfection standard” affect you or someone you know? Share below.#AC130 #Spectre #AC130H #GunshipStories #Loadmaster #EWO #AFSOC #16thSOS #4thSOS #GWOT #CombatAviation #AirForceVeteran #SpecialOperations #GunshipLegacy #MilitaryPodcast #VeteranStories #MentalHealthMilitary #PerfectionStandard #PTSDVeteran #DarkHumorMilitary #GunshipCrew #AC130History #TailSwap #AzoresShenanigans -- CONNECT WITH US -- Listen/watch us on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Rumble and Podbean Email: [email protected]