Ride 'em’ Cowboy!
Some people play chess to relax. Others paint. A few write poems—
or knit. Then there’s that hardy bunch who work on helicopters,
get involved with counter-intelligence, re weapons, or ump out of
airplanes. They prefer leisurely acvies that push them to the limit.
Military life is their mission rodeo is their passion.
Some of these rodeo-lovers watch the acon others risk it all in the
arena. Either way, there’s a support system to help get soldiers,
sailors, and aircrew involved in rodeo life, which oers its own
version of risk-reward.
Of course, as Air Force en. Chuck Yeager once observed, “You don’t
concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great
to prevent the necessary ob from geng done.”
Back in ’47, Yeager sueezed into the cramped cockpit of the Bell
S-1 the way a rodeo rider slips into a chute. The orld ar II ying
ace rode that wild bronco as the rst pilot to ever break the sound
barrier. hat you may not know is that a couple of days before the
ight, he broke two ribs when he fell from a horse, a fact he kept to
himself. hy He wasn’t about to miss the ride of a lifeme.
ayne Boney knows what that’s like. He lived with one foot in the
military and another in the arena, having served 20 years in the Air
Force, reaching the rank of Tech Sergeant E-6 while making it a
priority to ride every chance he got. It paid o: The veteran Bull
Rider was a ve-me orld Champion for the Military Rodeo
Cowboys Associaon MRCA and two-me All Around. It should be
noted that in 13 he became only the third person to win MRCA
world tles in Bareback, Bull Riding, and All Around, a rodeo trifecta
if there ever was one.
As a civilian, Boney has maintained his rodeo street-creds: He’s an
instructor at Sankey Rodeo Schools, serves as Director of Rodeo
Administraon for the MRCA, and is secretary/historian for the
Military Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.
hile serving in the Air Force, Boney made a commitment to each
of his commanding ocers: No maer what happened during his
rodeo excursions, he’d be back at the base right on me for
Monday roll-call—a promise that was eventually tested.
It happened this way...
Boney was staoned at Victorville in southwestern San Bernardino
County, California. He le the base for an intense, week-long,
mul-stop rodeo run, including trips to Nebraska, Texas, and Kansas,
eventually winding his way back around to California for his nal
compeon.
There was no reason to think his next ride was going to be any dierent
than all the others. But it was. Big-me. Boney followed the same
systemac chute procedure as always—expecng the same results:
An open gate, a wild ride. But that’s not what happened. Instead, the
bull unexpectedly umped, turned, twisted—leaving Boney and his
ride momentarily face-to-face. He describes what happens next:
Photo by Eva Scoeld
Rodeo LIFE 59