Jack Bartlett

"I hate not being able to move in three dimensions. Cramps my style."

- Jack Bartlett

Jack Bartlett (ジャック·バートレットJakku Bātoretto), callsign "Heartbreak One", served as the leader and flight instructor of the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron from the Sand Island Detachment.

Though he would never show it, Bartlett would give his life for his wingmen.

Early life
Jack was born somewhere in Osea in 1968, and later enlisted in the Osean Air Force, where he eventually rose to the position of Captain. After the outbreak of the Belkan War, he was sent to the battlefield to halt the Belkan Air Force's advance. At some point, he met Nastasya Obertas, a major in the Yuktobanian military, who eventually left him, causing him to adopt the callsign "Heartbreak One". During this time, he was known as "Kid".

On May 28, he was part of the Osean force that ambushed Belkan aircraft at Area B7R in the events of Operation Battle-Axe. Shortly after an elite Belkan squadron arrived to bolster the BAF, he was found and shot down by Ashley Bernitz, who had come to the border after Wolfgang Buchner. He ejected from his F-14 and hit the ground, where he met Buchner, who also had been downed by Bernitz. The two made their way to Osean territory, and Bartlett continued as a pilot in Osea, while Wolfgang secured a false identity and joined the 703rd Maintenance Company as a flight engineer.

21st century
After the Belkan War, Bartlett became a Captain in the newly reformed Air Defense Force, where he served as a flight instructor at Sand Island. He gained a reputation for a disregard for authority, and retained the rank for a long time, believing that he would be "stuck at Captain forever". His personal aircraft became an F-4G Wild Weasel, yet kept an spare F-5E Tiger II adorned with his personal emblem, an ace of hearts cleaved by a knife.

In the incidents leading to the Circum-Pacific War, he was involved in a series of engagements against Yuktobanian aircraft, where he led the Wardog Squadron as an instructor. During the episode involving a surveillance ship, Kei Nagase was attacked by a SAM battery, only for Bartlett to take the impact himself. He ejected into the ocean, and was taken prisoner by the vessel. When the ship returned to Yuktobania, he was freed by an internal resistance movement opposing the Gray Men's plans, and joined them in their cause. He learned of their plot to kill Wardog, and assisted them with encrypted messages during their stay at the OFS Kestrel to sabotage their plans.

Towards the end of 2010, he joined the Yuke resistance in liberating Prime Minister Seryozha Nikanor from the Shtil prison camp in the Pobeda Peninsula, where he reunited with Nastasya and his former trainees, now acting as the Razgriz Squadron. With their aid, he escaped with Nikanor and the rebels in a convoy to a nearby airfield, where he stole a C-1 Trader to make his escape. Despite the Grabacr Squadron's arrival, he successfully escaped to the Kestrel, where he was reunited with his old crew.

During the Osean-Yuktobanian siege of Sudentor, he aided Blaze and his men in destroying the control systems of the SOLG, coming in from the Belkan border to disable the panel in Sudentor's direction. His fate after the mission is unknown.

Details
"His nickname was also "Kid" back then."

- Pops, Ace Combat 5 (scene #20, "Ancient Walls #1")

Bartlett, although a very talented pilot, has had a notorious history of being unable to comply with orders given, opting instead to follow his conscience. Bartlett cares for all the trainees under his command (referring to them as nuggets), and he secretly admires Kei Nagase skill when she defends herself after being attacked before the start of the war.

He also seem to notice Blaze's skill, so he gave Blaze his old nickname "Kid". Thus, Blaze became his favorite pupil.

His last recorded sortie was when he destroyed one of the two SOLG controls in Sudentor. Bartlett survived the final mission, but nothing more is known about what happened to him and the members from his squadron. It is known that after the war in 1995 he was never promoted again in part for his insubordination.

Trivia

 * During the takeoff sequence of Mission 04, a voice very similar to Bartlett's can be heard speaking twice, first saying "They're gonna be annihilated on the tarmac if we don't get them airborne!" and "Whatever you do, don't crash into the airfield!", albeit not always in this order.
 * A special version of the F-5E Tiger II based on the one flown by Bartlett will appear in Ace Combat Infinity.