Scott was born June 15, 1977, at Yokota Air Base
in Japan to Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jack and Mary Kinkele. The youngest of four siblings, he grew
up in San Francisco, where he attended St. Ignatius Preparatory School. Although he was
raised in the Haight-Ashbury district, Kinkele started "talking military" at a
young age, said his commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. J.C. Eisenzimmer. At 14, Kinkele talked
his way into an honorary membership in the exclusive St. Francis Yacht Club. That same
year, he scored 780 on his math SATs.
"Scott was super-intelligent," Eisenzimmer said. |
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Scott, only 23, was top of his class in officer basic and advanced
aviation electronic warfare training at NAS Whidbey, and was preparing to join Fleet Air
Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ2) in Rota, Spain, in October. There, as
an electronics specialist aboard the high-tech EP-3E
surveillance plane, he was to have scrutinized information from up to 18 crew members,
searching for danger to American fighters and bombers.
His instructor, division officer Torsten Garber, said he hoped that some young
pilot would not pay with his life because someone less brilliant than Kinkele took the
position. |
