Brad Holeski, Naval Aviator Photographed by Andy Wilson @andyphotofolio
The Sky is the Limit
An interview with Naval Aviator and Photographer, Brad Holeski
You know that unexpected and excited feeling you get when you hear a jet flying over but you can’t see it yet? So you start looking in all directions but if you actually pause for a second and listen the sound will guide you to which direction it’s coming from-that feeling…. I love that feeling! Not only is it awesome to watch those guys fly through the air but could you imagine being the pilot in charge? I imagine it takes massive motivation, discipline, self-confidence and impeccable focus to become a military pilot. That is surely just the tip of the characteristic iceberg as well. None the less, those are all admirable qualities we can strive to implement into our daily lives, regardless of our profession type.
If you are a Reno/Tahoe local, the jet you hear above may be Brad flying over you. You may have seen the successful aviator from his outstanding Instagram page @short.stories.of.a.shutter or maybe you have spent a few Friday nights tuning into his “Fighter Fact Friday” on his Instagram story. If you are an aspiring aviator or have a like for aviation photography Brad is a great person to know.
What I admire most about Brad is his consistent and humble nature while he pushes to meet his own life goals. In this question and answer interview Brad let’s us get to know him a little and gives us some inside scoop on how he achieved his long time goal of being a pilot and a few things in between.
1. What made you want to join the Navy specifically?
I grew up going to air shows with my mom and brother in Ohio and always thought
that jets and jet noise made something happen for me that I didn’t get from
anything else. Probably a mix of amazement in what I was witnessing happen
from a technological standpoint and patriotism in the strength of American
accomplishment. It wasn’t until after college though, that I’d decided to pursue that
route seriously rather than what I thought I’d be doing with a Zoology degree.
Initially I’d contacted an Air Force recruiter that would set up appointments to
meet, but I’d drive in and wait in the reception area only to be left chatting with
Army recruiters from the adjacent office as they tried to tell me helicopters were
where it was at and that they could get me one for the low price of just signing a
piece of paper. After some more attempts through family friends to get my foot in
the Air Force door, I gave up on that angle and called a Navy recruiter. Normally
you’re asked to put three different desired jobs on your application, but I knew that
flying was what I wanted to do, so I put “pilot” on all three lines and luckily things
worked out.
2. If you could tell aspiring pilots one thing, what would it be?
I’d say that if that’s what you really want to do, then you’d better build good
study habits in school, know when to NOT party with friends, and work on
making yourself a well-rounded person through volunteering and things
that put you outside of your comfort zone, because the military will
definitely make you do all of those things. I know that’s more like three
things, but there isn’t just one thing that I’ve seen that makes someone
successful (not that I’ve always followed that advice 100% of the time, but
sometimes getting lucky can remind you how close you come to ruining
your dreams).
3. Who has inspired you the most in life?
I’m not sure that any one single person has been an inspiration to the point
that I can put a finger on it. I think that reading about people that overcame
seemingly life-destroying obstacles and visualizing people that have had it
much worse than me can be motivating. When life was physically difficult
during Officer Candidate school (running at 4-5 am to exhaustion every
day; particularly stressful flights in flight school; etc.) I liked to picture
people like Marcus Luttrell from Lone Survivor (Navy SEAL that survived
being gravely injured in Afghanistan on his own) or a random World War II
veteran stuck in a trench surrounded by gunfire; it makes what I’ve had to
go through seem pretty tame.
4. What is your biggest fear(s)?
Knowing what I should be doing and not doing it and the infinite nature of time.
5. What was has been the hardest moment in your military career?
Every step of the way has had a “this is the hardest thing I’ve had to do” type
obstacle and every time you complete it you look back and think, “that wasn’t that
bad”, even if it was in the moment.
6. What was or has been your most positive moment in your military career?
I think there might have been a couple because I can’t nail down the ‘most
positive’ one. As far as military things go, being a part of a re-enlistment on the
U.S.S. Arizona’s memorial barge in Hawaii was pretty far up there as well as
witnessing a Navy Chief retirement ceremony where a folded American flag is
passed from one person to the next as the next person slowly salutes and a
narrator reads a script describing what the flag means. Dare you not to get some
dust in your eyes with that one.
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I think I’ll probably still be in Nevada working my Reserve job along with my
civilian flying job, married with maybe two kids, still trying to do things with
camera gear that I spend too much money on.
8. If you’re having an “off day”, how do you stay focused, especially while flying?
Luckily I don’t really have ‘off’ days, but because my job is so muscle-memory-
oriented, it’s easy to see when I’m behind or forgetting something. The cool part
of the way the military trains you to fly, and studies have observed this, is that
regardless of how nervous you are preparing to fly, once you’re in the cockpit,
your heart rate actually slows down and the habit-patterns you’ve built over
countless times doing the same thing take some of the workload off. Sorta-kinda
answered that one… (we’ll take it).
9. What is something no one knows about you?
I’m not sure that there’s something that only I know about me, but something that
maybe few people know is that I like to collect scotch and whiskey (thanks
Gabe). Do you share? Asking for a friend…
10. What inspired you to start Fighter Fact Friday?
Not wanting to be like every other person posting jet photos, I wanted to do
something that would help interact with people and might have a chance of
providing either some insight or direction to folks considering doing what we do
for a living. Growing up I didn’t have someone to bounce questions off of
(Instagram didn’t exist nor did really any kind of social media exactly; AOL chat
doesn’t count), and so this provided a platform to allow people an unobtrusive
way of doing that. I’m currently working on a web site and trying to decide how I
could integrate a Fighter Fact Friday type facet that would allow questions to be
searchable and catalogued rather than lost forever after 24 hours on
Instagram…along with providing an avenue for photography pursuits that have
become a creative outlet in the last 6-8 years.
11. We know that you enjoy photography, if you could travel anywhere tomorrow with your camera, where would you go?
I’d go back to Scotland (visited last May for a week) and drive the coastline
slowly. Such a wonderful country with amazing people and culture and
beautifully accessible castles and quaint towns.
BONUS- Because we can’t talk to someone from Top Gun without bringing up the classic movie…
12. Can you tell us anything about the movie Top Gun 2?
I may have flown one of the actors and I’m hoping that some of that flying might
make it into a documentary or special features. Wishful thinking probably, but
who knows!
It’s unmistakable Brad has had some amazing life experiences and those experiences come from him being open minded and motivated.
This interview definitely inspired me and I know will never fly a jet - but I can certainly apply the aspects of it to many areas of my life. Brad shows us how he stays focused, creative and is a strong role model, showing us that we can achieve our highest and best aspirations. Reaching for the sky can only define us to be greater humans, even if we stumble a few times on our way. Reaching for our own personal best altitude or distance off the starting ground, we can figuratively soar as high as we want to achieve our personal goals. Our greatness and capabilities as a person are infinitely measured. What is it in your life that keeps you rising to be your personal best?
Thank you, Brad Holeski, for letting us get to know you and for your patriotism and service. There is no doubt you are an inspiration to many.
You can learn more about Brad on his Instagram page @short.stories.of.a.shutter
The Sky is the Limit
*Just for the record the metaphoric idiom “The sky’s the limit” was first recorded in 1920. Source: Dictionary.com; https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sky-s-the-limit--the