Seiko SRPL53
A KC-46 boom operator in the Air Force, on a routine training flight for currency since coming home from the Middle East. The watch started as a gift to himself after several months of stressful missions deployed during Operation Epic Fury. He is direct about why. "No reasoning behind it other than I think it looks great." Now it is his flying watch. A Seiko SRPL53. Not a GMT, and he does not need one. The jet displays Zulu time anyway. If you have a wrist shot from somewhere that matters, submit at the link in bio. Tempus Est Potentia.
Intel Report
Seiko SRPL53
The watch
Seiko catalogs the SRPL53 as a Prospex Automatic Diver, PADI Special Edition. Stainless steel case at 41.7mm across and 12.3mm thick, patterned dial with a matching unidirectional rotating bezel, Hardlex crystal, LumiBrite on the hands, indices and bezel, and 200m of water resistance rated for scuba use. Inside is the caliber 4R35, an automatic with 23 jewels running at 21,600 vibrations per hour, with hand winding, a stop seconds function and roughly 41 hours of reserve. Screw down crown, screw case back, 20mm lugs.
The PADI markings are not styling for its own sake. Seiko has a partnership with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, and the special editions built under it carry the logo on the dial. It is a dive watch by design and by rating.
The job
He gives his role as KC-46 boom operator, United States Air Force. The KC-46A Pegasus is the service's newest tanker, built on the Boeing 767 airframe, with the first aircraft delivered to McConnell Air Force Base in January 2019. It changed the job in one obvious way. On the tankers that came before it the boom operator worked lying prone in a pod at the tail, looking out a window at the receiver. On the Pegasus he sits at a station forward in the aircraft and flies the boom using the Remote Vision System, camera imagery fed to screens at the console. The jet displays Zulu time, which is his stated reason for not needing a GMT.