Mr. Rumsfeld attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships (A.B., 1954) and served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Captain in 1989.
I never saw combat either. Does that make me a phony?
Anyone who flew jet aircraft when Rumsfeld did had large ones hanging. Dozens of pilots died when the technology of the time failed again and again. Flight instructors had an even tougher time of it. They had to train non-pilots and make them into top of the line stick jockeys. Alot of them died doing it.