Spencer EmchSpencer grew up with aviation in his blood. His father was a Navy pilot, his mother was a flight attendant before becoming a teacher, and even his little brother, Scott, became an Air Force pilot, a role he is currently still serving in today.After bing enlisted for 4 years, including a year-long deployment in Afghanistan, Spencer submitted his packet for the Army Warrant Officer program to become a helicopter pilot. Two years and Honor Graduate of his AH-64D Apache flight school class later, he flew the world's most advanced attack helicopter for the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.With two years of training under their belts, the 1-10 Attack Reconnaissance Brigade was ready when called upon to serve 9 months in the Middle East. Within a month of being overseas, the plan completely changed, and it wouldn't stop for the rest of the deployment. For Spencer and many of his peers, this would be their first deployment as attack helicopter pilots. None of them were prepared for how groundbreaking it would be for their unit or the aircraft, or how real a threat ISIS posed when helping the Iraqi forces retake Mosul.Upon leaving the Army after 12 years of service, including 2.5 years in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, that deployment and the memories of the people he experienced it with stuck with Spencer, and he decided to write the book Time of Flight. Initially, he wrote the story as a time-withstanding testament to that experience for future generations of his own family as well as the families of his former colleagues. However, upon completion, he realized the book was also more than that: an interesting look into the behavior of people over varying levels of stress and uncertainty in extraordinary situations across the spectrum of humanity, as well as an inside glimpse into service members' lives while on varying levels of a combat deployment for those back home.Spencer left the Army in 2020 to pursue a career flying for the Airlines, just like his dad did as a 30-year pilot for FedEx after leaving service. Currently, when he's not working on his FAA fixed-wing ratings, he's spending as much time as possible in the lineup on his surfboard or sailing when the waves are flat, searching for hidden stashes of powder on his skis and snowboard when the seasons change, and always playing and recording music in his studio or at a Blues Jam. Spencer encourages anyone with a war story to write it down, as you're the only one who can, and you'll remember more than you think. He hopes to share a cockpit with his little brother one day and prays for those riding in back when it happens. Read More Read Less