---
id: flying-free-11-refer-to-your-checklist
title: Chapter 11 – Refer to Your Checklist
category: Military Memoir
predicted_narrative_arc: personal anecdote to principle
sentiment: Reflective
emotions:
- nostalgic
- grounded
- faithful
keypoints:
- Checklists liberate rather than restrict
- Assignment flying with Canadian Forces at CFB Moose Jaw
- NATO pilots building shared training syllabus
- Diverse aviators united by common mission
- God’s Word as the checklist for life crises
summary: The narrator recounts his Air Force assignment at CFB Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan,
  where NATO pilots collaborated on a new training syllabus in unrestricted prairie
  airspace. He stresses that checklists free pilots from relying on memory or emotion
  during crises, and applies the same principle to following God’s Word as life’s
  reliable guide.
tags:
- faith
- anxiety
- checklists
- gods-word
- air-force
- nato-pilots
- cfb-moose-jaw
- saskatchewan
- aviation
- canada-assignment
- life-principle
sycophancy: 1
truth_score: 8
entropy: 3
updated: '2026-09-08T20:49:28Z'
vault_stage: 07_CODEX
headwaters: COMPA
prefix: COMPA
enrich_status: ok
enrich_blockers: []
enrich_method: llm
pipeline_filename: COMPA_2026-09-08_chapter-11-refer-to-your-checklist.md
proposed_topic: Formation
lane: Formation
description: God’s Word is the ultimate operations manual. Dean shares how following
  a checklist — even when it feels counterintuitive — produces consistent, safe outcomes
  in both flying and life.
routing_source: carbon
corpus_topic: Formation
---

# Chapter 11

## Refer to Your Checklist – Follow God’s Operations Manual

**Full book:** https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md

---

### Context for the Reader

This chapter emphasizes that checklists are not restrictive — they are liberating. A pilot who follows the checklist does not have to rely on memory or emotion in a crisis. The same principle applies to life: God’s Word provides the checklist that keeps us on the correct path when emotions and circumstances would lead us astray.

---

One of my most memorable tours during my Air Force career was an assignment flying with the Canadian Forces at CFB Moose Jaw in the unrestricted airspace over the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada. My responsibility was to examine the Canadian pilot training course as a source to train U.S. and other NATO pilots.

Pilots like myself from other NATO countries were tasked to fly together and build a syllabus to train future airmen. Although we were a diverse group with mission experience in a variety of aircraft, we shared a common bond and a charge to develop a new generation of aviators who could fly and fight together.

---

**Next chapter:** Prepare for the Crash – Right Reactions to Crises

**Full book:** https://deanrush.net/downloads/flyingfreebook.md