Bob Wainscott served his country in the US Navy as a fighter pilot, retiring as a captain. His daughter, Beth Cronk, served 10 years of service as a Navy pilot and achieved the rank of commander. She is also a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Captain Wainscott and Commander Cronk are also one of the few father/daughter aviator tandems to have landed an A-4 Skyhawk on an aircraft carrier.
Capt. Wainscott would serve 28½ years in the Navy and flew numerous missions in Vietnam, including a number along the dreaded Ho Chi Minh Trail. He described his feelings on landing there in 1968: âI was anxious to get it on. I was a multiengine instructorâ¦I volunteered and it was on to the adventure.â