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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896 |
I finished my freshman year in college, was running out of money so decided to work for my grandfathers tool and die company for the summer then back to the fall semester. This was "67 the war was taking a toll on my fellow West Virginians so having lost two good friends in my HS grad class in less than six months I felt the need to enlist choosing the USAF. Since I had a Ham radio license, built my own equipment I was fairly sure the AF would place me in the electronics career field..Close but not a home run  .My neighbor at the time { Cross Lanes WV which BTW is a stones throw from where "Dave in WV" resides today } was an AF recruiter which made it more than easy to sign on the dotted. So after testing high in electronics and mechanical off to Lackland for basic then grad orders to Lowry AFB Denver for the weapons career field..After 16 weeks in the "Black Shack" my first assignment was to Eglin AFB Ft.Walton Beach Florida In "AF Systems Command " which was right up my alley since we were R&D" ing new updated fire control hardware for the upcoming C-130 gunship program which was still in its infancy. Having settled into my new job for only months orders came for the "4th SOS " and AC-47 aircrew gunnery so I volunteered figuring several of my squadron mates were going to SEA anyway....Then a few brief weeks of training on the gun ranges, off to SERE Spec Ops survival and then to the war,,Home base was PhuCat AFB from '69 & '70 where ET and I crossed paths one evening..The rest is history, another deployment later to Osan,Kunsan Korea then finished my enlistment here at Offutt AFB Omaha Ne. We got our fire support from you. I left the Cha Rang valley June 28,1969. Most likely was our tail number especially in '69 since we flew a ton of CAS around Qui Nhon inter-coastal regions,,
You better be afraid of a ghost!!
"Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops
Woody
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 672
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 672 |
During my senior year in High School, knew my parents couldn't afford to send me to college. Also wasn't sure what I really want to specialize in, so figured the military would be a good place to start. During Small engine/Auto Mechanics classes my Junior and Senior years, found I had a knack for electronics. Wanted to work on aircraft or in the Nuclear field. The Navy said I didn't quite qualify for the nuke field, so the Air Force it was. Picked Navigational Aids Equipment Repairman AFSC 304X1, and did a delayed enlistment. About a month or two before I graduated the Navy sent me a letter informing me I now qualified for the Nuke field. but I stayed with the Air Force.
Went through Basic Fall of 1981 (first free time I had in basic, I saw the then new movie Stripes) and off to Keesler AFB (Biloxi MS). After the first 3 months of basic electronics I finally started training in my chosen career. Turns out that that NAVAIDS field is the ground based navigational aids, not the equipment on the aircraft. Right before I finished training, got orders to Guam. Being a kid from North Dakota, the thought of being trapped on a small Island didn't appeal to me, so I traded assignments with someone from MS that was supposed to go to Mt Home ID.
Did 3 years there, but was being pushed down by a couple higher ranking, more dominant techs so filled out my dream sheet. There are 8 slots and I only could come up with 7 places in Europe that I wanted to go to, So filled the last spot in with Korea. Around 3 months later I got assigned to Korea and got to spend 3 more months in MS at a specialized tech school for the LORAN system. Since I volunteered my tour was 1 year, but ended up enjoying so much I ended up extending 2 extra tours. I was located at a remote site and there was only 25 of us there. Except for the shift work, I really enjoyed my time there. Time to go back, and some joker assigned me back to within 70 miles of home. I was wanting to go back to the mountain states, not the flatlands.
Most of the time I was borderline with the weight requirements. They started offering paid separations and I was only half way to a retirement, so figured take the money and run. About 3 month after separating I got a phone call from the FAA. Basically I would be doing the same thing I did in the military, with higher pay, and I got to pick what I wanted to wear. It worked out that the mistake I made in picking a job, turned out to be a blessing. So it's 38 years later from when I enlisted and I reached retirement age 3 months ago. I plan to go 6 more years to 62 for an extra .1 percent per year on my pension (1.1 x years instead of 1 x years). As long as the Gov't doesn't collapse, between the pension, social security, and savings I should be able to retire comfortably.
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