Become an Acclerator Leader

what is an accelerator leader? a few years ago, i saw a photograph of air force one and its f16 fighter escorts taken on september 11, 2001. that day was unlike any other day and that escort was unlike any other escort. instead of being thousands of feet above air force one, the f16s were flying extremely close on the tail, left wing, right wing, and nose. it looked like they were almost touching air force one. colonel daniel shewmaker, my dear friend, was the pilot leading the squadron flying at the nose. i asked him what it was like flying escort that day and if he was nervous or worried. he responded, "not nervous and not worried. when you're a fighter pilot, you learn to fly calm and steady no matter how fast your plane is going or what's happening around you. we are trained to achieve situational awareness. we train and practice over and over under every possible scenario we can think of to prepare us for taking on those challenges even we could not imagine." i thought, "wow