'It wasn't about me': 3-time Blue Angels leader looked death in eye twice on faith journey

Capt. Greg "Boss" Wooldridge knows he's led a blessed life - and not just because he's the only person to have led the Blue Angels for three seasons or because he's escaped death twice.

Wooldridge, who led the Blue Angels team during the 1991, 1993 and 1996 show season, retired from the Navy in 1997 and during a visit to Gulf Breeze on Saturday shared his thoughts on life's purpose through the lens of naval aviation and his personal walk of faith.

Nearly 400 men converged at Coastline Calvary Chapel Saturday where sausage, eggs, bacon and biscuits flowed freely as Wooldridge took to the stage and gave an hour-long talk about trust in each other for a larger purpose.

"I realized it wasn't about me, it was a purpose way larger than me ? a purpose larger than self," Wooldridge said to the packed crowd. "That's what life is about, a purpose larger than selves."

Wooldridge reminisced that he and other Blue Angels never felt like rock stars, rather they had the chance to see thousands of the rock stars: the boys and girls they met during each season.

Particularly, he says the Blues' relationship with Make-A-Wish Foundation and the children he's interacted with while commanding the elite flight squadron demonstrated who "the real rock stars" were.

"They got up every morning not knowing what the heck is going to happen," he said. "We knew we were just going to fly airplanes for 45 minutes and have a great time.

"These kids were the equalizers for us," he added. "They brought us into reality, they kept us humble, they were amazing."

'Keep pushing' through obstacles in the journey

Part of Wooldridge's speech was how to push through adversity while on the journey of life, and he discussed a moment in his aviation career that required the utmost discipline and offered him a blessed second chance.

Before "Boss" was selected for the Blue Angels squad, he participated in dogfight practice over southern California in an A-4 Skyhawk, and he had a plan to fly straight up into the sky and roll in behind his opponent for an advantageous position.

However, Wooldridge said he tried to roll in behind his opponent and found his controls were not working. He and the airman in the second seat of the A-4 began hurtling toward earth spinning upside down.

"It does exactly what the manual says" he told the crowd. "You get into an inverted spin for which there is no known recovery."

They began to plummet to 15,000 feet, then 10,000, then 5,000 feet. Deciding not to eject, they continued to fall until about 2,000 feet, when Wooldridge said he began hearing a change in the sound of the wind hitting the plane.

"The airplane is actually getting into the relative wind, and we got enough wind to get the controls and scooped out at about 500 feet," Wooldridge said. "It's one of those second chances you go, 'Man, was I lucky.'"

But Wooldridge, with his newfound faith in Jesus, says what he once called luck he now knows was actually a blessing.

That's why he says to "keep pounding away" at your goals along your journey, never letting dreams out of sight. Later, Wooldridge applied and was picked to command the Blue Angels.

Cardiac arrest led Greg Wooldridge on faith journey

What led Wooldridge on a seven-year faith journey began with nearly losing his life ? again.

At 61 years old, Wooldridge was in his home state of Oregon when his heart sputtered and he entered cardiac arrest.

"I had eight minutes of CPR," he said. "The survival rate is very low, (but) I survived."

After his second brush with death, he said he began to think there must be something greater, something with more purpose on this planet. He began looking for the answer to that question, and seven years later a friend of his asked if he had a relationship with Jesus.

"I saw the joy that was in that church, and then I heard the message ... it was so significant," he said. "There is a lot more to this than I realize. There is more to this life."

He then grabbed and held up the Bible and said that it was his new NATOPS manual, a manual used by aviators called the Naval Air Training and Operations Procedures Standardization manual.

"Life is good now, full of blessings, and I'm glad to be here," he said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Angels leader Greg Wooldridge speaks about near-death incidents