When Survival Becomes a Choice: Leadership Forged in Captivity

In this deeply moving episode of The Naval Aviation Ready Room Podcast, host Ryan Keys welcomes Captain Mike Penn, USN (Ret.), whose story spans combat aviation, captivity, recovery, and leadership across military and civilian aviation.

In 1972, while flying combat missions from USS Midway, Penn’s A-7 Corsair was struck by a surface-to-air missile. With his aircraft tumbling upside down and accelerating toward 500 knots, far beyond the survivable ejection envelope, Penn faced a moment where survival should have been impossible. The ejection seat and parachute were not designed to function at that speed. Yet they did.

After landing in hostile territory, Penn was captured, injured, and imprisoned as a POW in Hanoi. During those first critical minutes and months, he made a conscious decision to live, a decision that would define his identity long after the war. That choice carried him through captivity, back into naval aviation as an instructor, and eventually into a decades-long career with Southwest Airlines, where he served as an airline captain and Chief Pilot during periods of rapid growth and cultural change.

This episode is not only a combat survival story, but a meditation on leadership when control is stripped away, the role of culture in resilience, and how survival gains meaning only when it is turned outward into service for others.

What You’ll Learn:

How combat systems and human limits are tested under extreme conditions
Why survival often begins with a deliberate mental decision
The realities of ejection, injury, capture, and imprisonment as a POW
How hope functions as an active leadership discipline
The lasting influence of combat on mentorship and instruction
Why organizational culture matters in both squadrons and airlines
How survival can evolve into lifelong service and purpose

Captain Mike Penn, USN (Ret.), is a Vietnam War naval aviator who flew combat missions off USS Midway before being shot down and captured in 1972. After surviving months as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, he returned to flight status as a naval aviation instructor.

Following his Navy career, Penn spent decades in commercial aviation, serving as an airline captain and later as Chief Pilot for Southwest Airlines during periods of rapid growth and cultural integration. He is a nationally recognized speaker on leadership, hope, and resilience, and the author of a book focused on courage and survival.

Mike Penn’s life reflects the enduring power of choice and the responsibility to turn survival into service.

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Highlights and YouTube Chapters:

[00:00] Intro: Welcome to the Naval Aviation Ready Room
[00:04] Resilience vs. Toughness: Choosing Life Over Despair in Captivity
[00:06] The Power of Collective Support: How Shared Struggle Multiplies Survival
[00:08] Operation Linebacker: Bombing Hanoi While POWs Endured Below
[00:10] The Miraculous Shoot Down: Nine Close Calls in Seven Minutes
[00:16] From Prison Walls to Fighter Cockpit: Nine Months to Flying Again
[00:30] From Naval Aviation to Southwest Airlines: Building a Career on Hope
[00:46] Herb Kelleher's Leadership Formula: Take Care of Your People
[00:49] The Blue Angels Dream and Continental to Southwest
[00:53] From Captain to Chief Pilot: Trust-Based Leadership in Action
[00:54] The Turning Point: Hitting Rock Bottom and Finding Recovery
[00:56] Why He Wrote the Book: One Soldier's Suicide Prevention Story
[01:00] Legacy of Service: 26 Years Running Aftercare for Addiction Recovery
[01:01] Key Takeaways: Hope, Courage, and the Power of Never Giving Up