Why the Blue Angels, how did that happen?
STUMPF: Strangely enough, I had never really aspired to be a Blue Angel. I thought they were wonderful all the way through my career, but it never kind of fit with what was next for me. Until I got ready to finish my CO tour, and there were no flying jobs available at that time, there were going to be no flying jobs available. And they were talking to me about another tour in the Pentagon which I would have done, but was not particularly pleased about it. And I told them I didn’t really want to do that. I said, “Send me to sea on a carrier.” I offered to do that, and they said, No, we need you in Washington, you’re the only guy that can do this job up in Washington. Q: Why did they need you in Washington, what were you doing? STUMPF: They wanted me to work in some office in the Secretary – I don’t even recall what it was. But they had a billet to fill and I was going to be available, fit the job description, and so that’s where I was off to. I decided to apply to be the Commander of th
