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The F-18 is a lot more plane to stop than the T-45. I am trying to remember the F-18 mishap, and I think he may have also forgotten to turn the Anti-skid on. For shipboard ops anti-skid is turned off. No Anti-skid and carrierized tires (inflated to extremely high pressure) and a 7500’ runway starts feeling really short.

From the book: "In retrospect, I should have taken a different course of action the instant I realized brakes were not working. First, I could've gone around and come back for an arrested landing. The Hornet can get airborne with as little as 1000 feet of runway remaining. I certainly had that when I realized my brakes were gone. Second, once I did decide to keep the jet on the runway, my priorities should have been to select emergency brakes, not check my throttles and put out the speed brake. Finally, I let myself get distracted. I was wondering why I was having this braking problem instead of reacting to the emergency. Once I knew I had the runway made, I allowed myself to become complacent. I was no longer ready to handle problems or emergencies that might arise."

He had ANTI-SKID on and should've turned it off when he realized he had no braking. (That's his words.)

The book introduces pilots with the highest rank that they attained over their career (Rear Admiral Gilchrist didn't eject from his jet as an admiral.) So the highest rank that this guy attained was LT, which is a shame. Dude learned some good lessons and could've spread those lessons to the fleet in a way that a safety briefer can't. He wasn't out hot-dogging it, he wasn't breaking the rules for ego's sake. Raw deal, but that's life, I guess. I hope he's doing well these days.