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Air Force veteran living out dream as medical helicopter pilot

CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati helicopter pilot served his country in the Air Force and now is serving his community in the Tri-State area.

Bob Francis told our news partners at WCPO, that his love of aviation took him out west to the Air Force Academy.

“I got my first airplane right when I was in seventh grade and after that, I was hooked on aviation,” Francis said.

Later he became a helicopter pilot at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.

“Our role there was to provide security for the underground nuclear complex across the central and eastern part of the state,” Francis said. “We had a secondary role of search and rescue as well.”

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That role helped prepare him for his current job of flying medical helicopters for the University of Cincinnati Health, where he and his team maybe someone’s only chance for survival.

Francis said he feels blessed to be living out his childhood dream and loves seeing children react just like he did the first time he flew.

“The joy they have and all the questions and all the amazement and all the questions they have, seeing all the gauges things like that and that takes me back to the day seeing that myself,” Francis said.

He went on to say he hopes to be able to help inspire the next generation to chase their dreams.

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