St John, Robert, Sgt

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE.
I signed up for the Air Force after I got my draft notice. As I remember, you do not have long after the notice to join another branch. So, I went to the military recruitment building in Dayton; it had all of the recruiters at one place. The office was

907th Radar

a big room with a cubicle for each recruiter, each with a desk and two or more chairs with glass partitions. First, I looked into the Army office and thought: 'no way that's what I'm trying to get away from!', next to the Marines; 'no no are you crazy?' then the Navy, I talked to the Navy recruiter, but still not sure. I checked out the Air Force office, but no one was there! I asked about his whereabouts and was told he must still be out to lunch, hum. So I decided, to go for a bite to eat. When I got back to the Air Force office, my Air Force recruiter was sitting with his feet up on the desk and his uniform was a little disheveled; my first thought was: 'this looks like the outfit for me!'

I talked to him and he seemed to be giving me the straight scoop. I told him that I wanted to be in electronics. I showed him that I worked as an electronics technician for two and one-half years (at Crown Controls) and that I brought along my college transcripts. He was very truthful and told me that he or any recruiter could not guarantee which field you will be assigned to, but he said that he would attach my papers to my record. He said that during basic training they would notify me to report to a career counselor and to be sure to tell them about my education and work experience. When I reported to the career counselor he had all of my paperwork and set me up with another appointment to take the final test for Aircraft Radio Repairman and another test for Ground Radio Repairman. He told me that if I passed the test I would be classified as a "By-Pass Specialist". Not knowing what that meant I said, "Sure that sounds great." I passed and they sent me directly to the 907th Radar Squadron in Maine as a Ground Radio Repairman.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I'm happy that I could do the type of work I wanted. The main reason I left was the enormous disparities in pay and benefits between married and single personnel.

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?

Working at 907th GATR

My favorite was the 907th Radar Squadron. I was back working in electronics and surrounded by like-minded people. In many ways the barracks was like a college dorm, many of us were taking extension courses. On movie night we would go to the recreation room and watch a movie. Watching a movie at the recreation room was a whole new experience; it was an interaction exhibition of comments and wisecracks from the audience. I will never forget the fun we had.

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
See: Which individual(s) from your time in the military stand out as having the most positive impact on you and why?

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?

Johnston Island

In 1957 Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched by the Soviet Union.

And I was an impressionable boy of thirteen, not unlike so many other boys across this nation. So, I decided to try my hand at building my own rocket. After mixing different propellant concoctions, I managed to get one with the proper burn rate. However, this phase ended when our neighbors decided that launching rockets from my backyard was a little too dangerous. From that time on I always had a soft spot in my heart for rockets. When I was assigned to the 10th Air Defense Squadron and then to Johnson Island I was ecstatic. So, without a doubt, my Missileman badge was the most meaningful.

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Hum, that's a hard question. I have to say that many people had a positive impact. At the top of the list, were my supervisors, followed by a few close friends, but one particular incident stands out as a pivotal moment. My supervisor called me in to go over my first performance review, as I read my review, my eye fell upon this statement; "Widely read, with a retentive memory..." I could not get past that statement; I sat there reading that sentence over and over. I do not know why it had such an impact on me, maybe subconsciously I was comparing this to my previous life, growing up in a disparaging environment. I don't know. But, that moment, reading my performance review with such high praise was a moment I will never forget. Later I learned that the military only had two kinds of performance reviews, one that the reviewer wanted to get a person promoted and one if they did not.

CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
One year after my arrival at the 907th the Operations Officer called me into his office and asked me if I would be interested in escorting some highly classified equipment to Ohio for retrofitting and calibration. Not knowing what was involved I said, "sure". It sounded like a great adventure

C-47

and I like adventures. He told me they will cut the orders and to be ready in two days. Two days later I reported to Operations Officer's office he gave me the orders and said he has a driver ready to take me to Dow Air Force Base. Not knowing just what was expected of me, I asked what should I do when I get there? "Oh," he said, "well go to the Air Operations Officer, he will try to find a flight for you". At that point, I started to think this is not going to be easy. I arrived at the Air Operations office and managed to get the attention of the Air Operations Officer I showed him my orders and the pilots in the room gathered around, each saying that he should do it since he needed more airtime. Believe it or not, they set me with my own private flight close to my destination and they scheduled it for 5 P.M. I'm thinking this is easier than I thought. We loaded the equipment onto the C-47 may be a DC-3. I took my seat, any seat I wanted since I was the only passenger. I sat looking out the window at the lights of the cities we are passing over and, thinking 'is this great or what'. At just about this time the Copilot walks up to me and tells me that we are icing up, and wanted to know if it would be OK with me if we landed at Selfridge AFB. After getting over the shock that they would ask me, a lowly Airman, permission to land. I said sure, but radio ahead and tell them that we have classified equipment on board and to make provisions for its security. Nothing prepared me for what happened next. We landed and were immediately surrounded by at least a dozen Air Police vehicles; with lights flashing that escorted us to space with even more Air Police with guns. As I walked out of the plane everyone saluted me, what could I do, so I saluted back. I was met by a delegation and was told that they will guard the plane until we leave tomorrow. They then told me that my quarters are ready and that they had a car ready. I got into the car and the driver said that he is taking me to the Visiting Officers Quarters I said no, just take me to the Airman's Quarters, but he said, sir, your Quarters are all set. I'm thinking this is escalating out of control, so told him that I'm just an Airman and that Airman's Quarters would be just fine. He looked at me and said, "So this is not an IG readiness test?" I laughed and said, "not that I know of" he got on the radio and told someone that I wanted to stay at the Airman's Quarters. So, in the end, they took me to the NCO Quarters. To this day, I do not think they believed me.

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
Well, as you know, I was an electronics technician before entering the Air Force. So, after my four years of service, I continued my education and worked my way up to Senior Design Engineer at a Fortune 500 company.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
I feel that The Air Force put me on a solid career path.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE AIR FORCE?
You did not make a mistake. It gets better.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.

TWS and the US Air Force

The questions were very helpful.

DS 9/29/17