O’Grady Joins Reserve Unit In Utah

Air Force Capt. Scott O’Grady, the F-16 pilot who became a national hero after being shot down and surviving in the Bosian wilds, is moving to Salt Lake City to join the Air Force Reserve next month.

“I couldn’t be more excited to come to Salt Lake City,” O’Grady told the Deseret News in a copyright story Sunday. O’Grady, who grew up in Spokane, said he has been trying to get into the reserve’s 419th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base for about two years.

“I’d have to say it is one of the most qualified fighter wings in the entire world,” he said, joking that he had to become famous just to get in.

O’Grady was most recently assigned to the Air Force’s 555th Fighter Squadron, stationed in Aviano, Italy. He was participating in NATO operations over Bosnia in early June when his F-16 was shot down by a Bosnian Serb surface-to-air missile.

He spent six days eluding capture while surviving on insects and rainwater before he was plucked from the Bosnian countryside in a daring rescue that captured worldwide attention.

O’Grady said that besides the 419th and several friends in Salt Lake, the area has another attraction.

“There are lots of beautiful women in Salt Lake City.” I’m looking forward to meeting some of them,” he said.