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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Air Force Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
CCM Ken Witkin, US Air Force (1958-1988)
WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE MILITARY?
 When I was 12 years old, I read the book: "God Is My Copilot." The book was about the Flying Tigers in China during World War II. From that moment on, I wanted to be in the Air Force. To prepare myself for an aviation career, I built and flew model airplanes that had small gasoline-powered reciprocating engines. In high school, I joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and was a CAP cadet for three years. In college I joined AFROTC and was a cadet NCO and a member of the Sabre Air Command, an AFROTC drill team and fraternal order. Finally, after two years of college, I enlisted in the Air Force to begin my active duty military career.
BRIEFLY, WHAT WAS YOUR SERVICE CAREER PATH?
I was an aircraft (airborne) communications systems operator for 30 years. I consider myself extremely fortunate. During March 1958, while in Basic Training at Lackland AFB in Texas, I was administered a battery of aptitude tests. Because I had studied Morse Code in the Civil Air Patrol  and radio theory in college, I aced the airborne radio operators test. After successfully completing a 19-week Airborne Radio Operations Course at Keesler AFB in Mississippi, I began my 30-year flying career in October 1958 while stationed at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland as a C-47 and C-54 airborne radio operator, AFSC A293X2. While at Keflavik, I earned my 5-skill level and then an amateur radio operators "Conditional" License. From Keflavik, I took a consecutive overseas tour to RAF Mildenhall, England where I served as a WB-50D airborne radio operator and from RAF Mildenhall I took another consecutive overseas tour to Rhein Main AB, West Germany where I again served as a C-47 airborne radio operator. While at Rhein Main I volunteered to participate as the radio operator on board a ten-day C-47 mission from Rhein Main AB in West Germany to Leopoldville, the Belgium Congo during the Congo Revolution. When we landed at Leopoldville, our aircrew turned our aircraft over to the UN and then waited almost a week for a C-130A to pick us up and fly us back to Germany. That mission was certainly not enjoyable and when I finally did return to Rhein Main, I had contracted amebic dysentery from allowing the Leopoldville hotel shower water get into my mouth when I took my morning showers.
After spending seven months at Rhein Main AB, I was selected for a special duty assignment to Tempelhof Central Airport, West Berlin, West Germany--again as a C-47 airborne radio operator. While in Berlin, I served on the command crew for Brigadier General Albert Watson, the Berlin Commandant and was fortunate enough to fly all over Europe with General Watson. For an Airman Second Class (A2C), it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Finally after serving five years in Europe, I was reassigned to McClellan AFB, California as an EC-121D airborne radio operator. I spent almost three years at McClellan AFB.
In January 1965, I was selected to participate in a classified project and was sent TDY to Tan Son Nhut AB, Saigon, South Vietnam as a C-47 and C-54 airborne radio operator. While in South Vietnam, I lived in "Tent City" and flew mostly C-47 night missions supplying US Army outposts all over South Vietnam with mail, food, ammunition and personnel. Occasionally, I flew on C-54 Rest and Recuperation (R&R) flights out of South Vietnam to Hong Kong, Bangkok and even Manila.
At the end of May 1965, after serving more than five months in South Vietnam, I was recalled back to McClellan AFB and served another year at McClellan, again as an EC-121D airborne radio operator. While back at McClellan, I earned my  7-skill level, joined the base aero club and earned my private pilot's license. In July 1966, after serving more than three years at McClellan AFB, I was reassigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii as an EC-135P airborne radio operator. I spent four years at Hickam as a communications team chief on board the CINCPAC Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) and flew all over the Pacific Ocean. About three years into my tour at Hickam, I was selected to fly on the command crew for Admiral Dudley Sharp, CINCPAC and then later his successor the famous Admiral John S. McCain Jr.
In June 1970, I volunteered to return to Southeast Asia and a month later I was reassigned to the 7th Airborne Command & Control Squadron (7ACCS), Udorn Royal Thai AFB (RTAFB), Thailand as a communications team chief on board the EC-130E Airborne Battlefield Command & Control Center (ABCCC). The ABCCC was the USAF airborne command post that conducted the Laotian air and ground war. For the next 12 months I flew every third day as an EC-130E aircrew member orbiting over Laos. During those 12 months I flew 100 combat missions and earned three air medals providing air-to-ground and air-to-air communications to American and allied ground forces and aircraft fighting the war in Laos.
In July 1971, after spending a year at Udorn RTAFB, I was reassigned to Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina as an EC-135K communications team chief on board the Tactical Air Command (TAC) ABNCP. The mission of the TAC ABNCP was to provide command and control communications to any TAC fighter wing, squadron or flight that was deploying overseas. While an aircrew member on board the TAC ABNCP, I flew on worldwide missions, including missions to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Okinawa, Japan, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, South America, etc. After four years at Seymour Johnson, I was promoted to master sergeant and became the squadron NCOIC of Communications and was also selected to fly on the command crew for General William Momyer, COMTAC and his successor, General Robert Dixon.
After spending seven years at Seymour Johnson, I volunteered for a special duty assignment to the 89th Military Airlift Wing (89 MAW), Andrews AFB, Maryland as a Special Air Missions (SAM) VC-135B Communications Electronics Systems Operations Superintendent. I spent almost eight years at Andrews AFB flying all over the world as an aircrew member on both the VC-135B and VC-9C aircraft. While assigned to the 89 MAW, I was selected to serve on board Air Force 2 as the Air Force 2 airborne communications systems superintendent (AFSC A11690). From 1982 to 1985, I flew 120 missions on board Air Force 2.
To make a long career a bit shorter, my final assignment was in 1985 to Geilenkirchen NATO AB, West Germany as a NATO AWACS E-3A airborne communications systems superintendent and the Chief of the NATO Flying Squadron One Communications Section. I spent three years in NATO AWACS and retired in April 1988 as a chief master sergeant with eight years time in grade.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT OPERATIONS? IF YES, CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHICH ONES AND HOW YOU PARTICIPATED?
My entire five months in Vietnam was one long combat operation. I was stationed there during the famous Gulf-of-Tonkin Incident. Furthermore, the Viet Cong continuously fired on our C-47 aircraft whenever we were landing at or taking off from some God-forsaken Army outpost in the middle of nowhere.  The C-47 enlisted aircrew members always carried M-16s on every mission and our officers carried 38-caliber pistols. Our aircraft often returned to Tan Son Nhut AB with bullet holes in the wings or fuselage. But for the Grace of God, during the entire time I was stationed at Tan Son Nhut AB--neither I nor any of our C-47 aircrew members were ever wounded.
Furthermore, every flight I made in the EC-130E ABCCC aircraft was involved in combat operations. The ABCCC conducted the war on the ground in Laos and the air war over Laos 24/7, 360-days-a-year. There were times when our aircraft were chased out of Laos by North Vietnamese MIG fighters and there were times when we launched US fighter aircraft on MIG Combat Air Patrol (MIG CAP) to intercept any MIGS headed our way. We participated in the rescue of downed aircrews in Laos and directed allied fire power against enemy positions trying to overrun friendly forces on the ground in Laos.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE CAREER WHAT PARTICULAR MEMORY STANDS OUT?
 I would have to say the honor of being selected as an aircrew member on Air Force 2 for three years and flying all over the US with Vice President George Bush and his lovely wife Barbara. The vice president and his wife were truly first-class people and they treated the aircrew members who flew with them as family.
DID YOU RECEIVE ANY AWARDS FOR VALOR? CAN YOU DESCRIBE HOW THESE WERE EARNED?
Not only did I not receive any awards for valor, I never received any air medals for my service in Vietnam. While I was stationed in Vietnam I was considered an "Advisor" and Congress and the President had not declared South Vietnam a "combat zone" until after I rotated back to the US. A year after I rotated back to the States, I learned that the aircrew members who served with me in South Vietnam received three air medals for their service during the five months that I was stationed at Tan  Son Nhut AB. Because I was professional military, I considered it "unseemly and unprofessional" behavior to complain about not receiving a medal or decoration and I never pursued the matter any further. Later, I kicked myself in the pants for not trying because those three air medals would have gotten me promoted to master sergeant much sooner under the new WAPS System which was phased in during 1970 and 1971.
OF THE MEDALS, AWARDS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES OR DEVICES YOU RECEIVED, WHAT IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
I would have to say the Defense Meritorious Service Medal that I received in 1988 for my three years of service at NATO AWACS, Geilenkirchen NATO AB, West Germany. While stationed at Geilenkirchen, I served as the Air Force Senior Enlisted Advisor, President of the Allied Forces Central Europe/Geilenkirchen  Chiefs' Group, Chief Enlisted Aircrew Manager for 140 US enlisted aircrew members, chief of a 20-man multinational NATO Communications Section, Vice President of the Charlemagne Chapter of the Air Force Association and as an aircrew member on board the NATO AWACS E-3A aircraft. During my tenure as the senior U.S. enlisted member at Geilenkirchen, I was responsible for the Base Senior NCO, NCO, and Airman of the Quarter and Year Recognition Programs and the Base Stripes for Exceptional Performers Program.. When I wasn't endorsing 140 enlisted APRs or chairing the Allied Forces Central Europe/Geilenkirchen Chiefs' Group, I was sitting on a three-day USAFE promotion board or the USAFE Outstanding Airman or NCO of the Quarter Board. During this same period I was also flying as an aircrew member on the NATO E-3A AWACS at least once-a-week.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL PERSON FROM YOUR SERVICE STANDS OUT AS THE ONE WHO HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
By far it was SMSgt Ralph Hoyke, my first NCOIC from Keflavik International Airport, Iceland. SMSgt Hoyke was the finest NCO I ever served with. He took me under his wing and taught me the basics of being an aircraft radio operator. He helped me check out first in the C-47 aircraft and then in the C-54 aircraft. He also helped me obtain my 5-skill level and convinced me to study for my amateur radio license. It was Ralph Hoyke who told me about the SAM squadrons at Andrews AFB, Maryland and it was because of him that I eventually applied for a special assignment to the 89 MAW. I met Ralph Hoyke again some 25 years after we both left Keflavik. We were attending a reunion at Andrews AFB, Maryland for 89 MAW aircrew members. I was still on active duty and he was already retired, owned a radio and TV repair shop in Alexandria, Virginia and was in his late 70s. He actually remembered me when I introduced myself to him. It was a meeting that I shall never forget.
DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULARLY HUMOROUS STORY FROM YOUR SERVICE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?
There's the one about Lassie, the TV dog and "Looking Glass," the Strategic Air Command (SAC) ABNCP. It seems that someone at Headquarters SAC had authorized the TV show "Lassie" to film an episode on board Looking Glass. The episode went off without a hitch and was aired on national TV a few weeks after it was filmed.
About a week after the Lassie episode aired on TV, the TAC ABNCP, call sign Head Dancer, was participating in an ABCCC  mission for the Ninth Air Force during an exercise held at Shaw AFB, SC. The Director of the Airborne Battlestaff (DABS), who was an O-6, called me on the aircraft interphone and asked me to get him a phone patch to Looking Glass. I thought that was a bit odd but of course I initiated the phone patch immediately. The first person who answered my radio call was one of the Looking Glass radio operators and after exchanging the correct authentication codes with him, he patched me through to the Looking Glass Battlestaff Commander, an O-7.
As I was monitoring the phone patch between both aircraft, I heard the following: "Joe, this is Ed from Head Dancer. Just wanted to know if Lassie was still running things on board Looking Glass. You guys from SAC need all the help you can get even if it's from Lassie. ' Then all I heard was a bunch of dogs barking and then dogs singing. Yes, I said singing. Somehow our DABS had gotten hold of a recording of singing dogs and was playing it back to the Looking Glass battle staff commander.
Well, I don't have to tell you that our entire aircraft broke into howls of laughter. There was always some good natured competition between SAC and TAC during the Cold War but this took the cake. After a few minutes of playing the recording of the barking and singing dogs, my DABS told me to discontinue the phone patch and that ended the rather infamous dog episode between Looking Glass and Head Dancer. It just goes to show you that even O-6s and O-7s have a sense of humor.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER THE SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?
After serving the USAF in the telecommunications career field for 30 years, I applied to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a GS rating as a 391 GS-12 telecommunications manager. Believe it or not, OPM gave me the GS-12 rating immediately and I was hired six months later  by the US Army National Guard (ARNG) as the ARNG Headquarters Long Haul Telecommunications Manager. The term: "Long-Haul" referred to long-distance telephone circuits and that's exactly what I did. I was the US ARNG Headquarters long-distance telephone circuit manager for all ARNG long-distance circuits in the US, including Hawaii and Alaska. At first the work was difficult because I knew very little about telephone circuits. However, I had a very good instructor, a Delaware ARNG first lieutenant who showed me the ropes. After a few months, I had no trouble at all performing my work.
I worked for the ARNG for four years and then transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Telecommunications Services Center (TSVC) as a GS-13 telecommunications manager. At DOJ I served as the Chief of the DOJ TSVC for six months and then was moved to the DOJ E-Street office as the DOJ Communications Security (COMSEC) Manager. I remained with DOJ for four years.
After working 38 years for the US Government, 30 years in the Air Force and 8 years for Civil Service, I resigned from my job with DOJ and retired again, so I thought.
Three years later, around September 1999, I received a telephone call from my former NCOIC from the 89 MAW. He wanted to know if I would be interested in going back to work for a civilian contractor. My ex-boss would not tell me what the new job entailed but he did say that it was right up my alley and I would love it. I was called in for an interview and was grilled by two former chief master sergeants for about three hours. Finally, I was told that I "got the job" and that I would be working for the White House at a "classified location." Believe it or not, it took almost one year to get all the security clearances that I needed for this new job and on August 1, 2000, I began my new job as the night shift supervisor and COMSEC Manager for the White House Secure Video Teleconferencing System (SVTS). My duty hours were from 1730 hours to 0530 hours five-days-a-week. I received night differential pay, weekend pay, holiday pay, overtime pay, etc., etc. I had never earned so much money before in my entire life. However, after a year of working the "Graveyard" shift, I had had enough and on August 31, 2001, I resigned from my White House job and went back into retirement. Of course if I had waited another 11 days to resign, I probably would still be working at the White House because all of my co-workers were given a "stop-loss" notice by the US Government the day after September 11, 2001. I really don't know how many of them are still working in their old job.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY MILITARY ASSOCIATION(S)? IF SO, WHICH ASSOCIATIONS AND WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP(S).
I am a member and the current president of the Airborne Battlefield Command Control Center (ABCCC) Association. I am also a member of the Air Force Association (AFA), the Air Weather Association (AWA), Air Weather Reconnaissance Association (AWRA), the Strategic Air Command Airborne Command Control Association (SAC ACCA), the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), the Tan Son Nhut Association and the SAM FOX Association.
I do not prefer one association over another. They all have their mission statements, by-laws and their reasons for existence.
HOW HAS MILITARY SERVICE INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
I would have to say that the military instills discipline, vision and a sense of purpose in one's life. I think that the discipline is the most important factor gained from a military career. With the proper discipline, a person will persevere under the worst possible conditions and be successful in life.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THOSE THAT ARE STILL SERVING?
 Education, education and more education. I cannot stress enough how important every type of education is for a successful military career. I myself attended 19 weeks of Airborne Radio Operations School at Keesler AFB, Mississippi; four weeks of NCO Preparatory School at Mather AFB, California; six weeks of NCO Academy at Langley AFB, Virginia; nine weeks of Senior NCO Academy at Gunther AFS, Alabama and one week at the Military Airlift Command's Chief Master Sergeants Introductory Course at Scott AFB, Illinois. I also attended courses in Management for Air Force Supervisors, OJT Administrator and Air Force Leadership Principals.
While stationed in Europe, I attended the University of Maryland for three years with a major in German and a minor in Russian. I took at least 20 Extension Course Institute (ECI) courses and/or USAF Institute (USAFI) courses in Electricity and Electronics during my 30-year career and also two Department of the Navy electronics courses: Basic Electronics Volume I & Basic Electronics Volume II. I also studied every aircraft technical order and radio manual that I could get my hands on.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU MAINTAIN A BOND WITH YOUR SERVICE AND THOSE YOU SERVED WITH?
Wow. That's a great question! Before becoming a Life Member of Together-We-Served, I had to depend on different methods of communications such as e-mail, telephone, snail mail, etc., to find and reach out to friends of mine who served with me in the military. Now, all I have to do is go to the Together-We-Served web site to find my former comrades in arms.
As a matter of fact, I recently found a former instructor airborne radio operator with whom I served with at RAF Mildenhall, England in 1959 and 1960. We were both in a WB-50D plane crash together during December 1959 and we both lived to talk about it.
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When I was 12 years old, I read the book: "God Is My Copilot." The book was about the Flying Tigers in China during World War II. From that moment on, I wanted to be in the Air Force. To prepare myself for an aviation career, I built and flew model airplanes that had small gasoline-powered reciprocating engines. In high school, I joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and was a CAP cadet for three years. In college I joined AFROTC and was a cadet NCO and a member of the Sabre Air Command, an AFROTC drill team and fraternal order. Finally, after two years of college, I enlisted in the Air Force to begin my active duty military career.
and radio theory in college, I aced the airborne radio operators test. After successfully completing a 19-week Airborne Radio Operations Course at Keesler AFB in Mississippi, I began my 30-year flying career in October 1958 while stationed at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland as a C-47 and C-54 airborne radio operator, AFSC A293X2. While at Keflavik, I earned my 5-skill level and then an amateur radio operators "Conditional" License. From Keflavik, I took a consecutive overseas tour to RAF Mildenhall, England where I served as a WB-50D airborne radio operator and from RAF Mildenhall I took another consecutive overseas tour to Rhein Main AB, West Germany where I again served as a C-47 airborne radio operator. While at Rhein Main I volunteered to participate as the radio operator on board a ten-day C-47 mission from Rhein Main AB in West Germany to Leopoldville, the Belgium Congo during the Congo Revolution. When we landed at Leopoldville, our aircrew turned our aircraft over to the UN and then waited almost a week for a C-130A to pick us up and fly us back to Germany. That mission was certainly not enjoyable and when I finally did return to Rhein Main, I had contracted amebic dysentery from allowing the Leopoldville hotel shower water get into my mouth when I took my morning showers.
7-skill level, joined the base aero club and earned my private pilot's license. In July 1966, after serving more than three years at McClellan AFB, I was reassigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii as an EC-135P airborne radio operator. I spent four years at Hickam as a communications team chief on board the CINCPAC Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) and flew all over the Pacific Ocean. About three years into my tour at Hickam, I was selected to fly on the command crew for Admiral Dudley Sharp, CINCPAC and then later his successor the famous Admiral John S. McCain Jr.
was to provide command and control communications to any TAC fighter wing, squadron or flight that was deploying overseas. While an aircrew member on board the TAC ABNCP, I flew on worldwide missions, including missions to Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Okinawa, Japan, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, South America, etc. After four years at Seymour Johnson, I was promoted to master sergeant and became the squadron NCOIC of Communications and was also selected to fly on the command crew for General William Momyer, COMTAC and his successor, General Robert Dixon.
The C-47 enlisted aircrew members always carried M-16s on every mission and our officers carried 38-caliber pistols. Our aircraft often returned to Tan Son Nhut AB with bullet holes in the wings or fuselage. But for the Grace of God, during the entire time I was stationed at Tan Son Nhut AB--neither I nor any of our C-47 aircrew members were ever wounded.
I would have to say the honor of being selected as an aircrew member on Air Force 2 for three years and flying all over the US with Vice President George Bush and his lovely wife Barbara. The vice president and his wife were truly first-class people and they treated the aircrew members who flew with them as family.
Son Nhut AB. Because I was professional military, I considered it "unseemly and unprofessional" behavior to complain about not receiving a medal or decoration and I never pursued the matter any further. Later, I kicked myself in the pants for not trying because those three air medals would have gotten me promoted to master sergeant much sooner under the new WAPS System which was phased in during 1970 and 1971.
Chiefs' Group, Chief Enlisted Aircrew Manager for 140 US enlisted aircrew members, chief of a 20-man multinational NATO Communications Section, Vice President of the Charlemagne Chapter of the Air Force Association and as an aircrew member on board the NATO AWACS E-3A aircraft. During my tenure as the senior U.S. enlisted member at Geilenkirchen, I was responsible for the Base Senior NCO, NCO, and Airman of the Quarter and Year Recognition Programs and the Base Stripes for Exceptional Performers Program.. When I wasn't endorsing 140 enlisted APRs or chairing the Allied Forces Central Europe/Geilenkirchen Chiefs' Group, I was sitting on a three-day USAFE promotion board or the USAFE Outstanding Airman or NCO of the Quarter Board. During this same period I was also flying as an aircrew member on the NATO E-3A AWACS at least once-a-week. 
mission for the Ninth Air Force during an exercise held at Shaw AFB, SC. The Director of the Airborne Battlestaff (DABS), who was an O-6, called me on the aircraft interphone and asked me to get him a phone patch to Looking Glass. I thought that was a bit odd but of course I initiated the phone patch immediately. The first person who answered my radio call was one of the Looking Glass radio operators and after exchanging the correct authentication codes with him, he patched me through to the Looking Glass Battlestaff Commander, an O-7.
by the US Army National Guard (ARNG) as the ARNG Headquarters Long Haul Telecommunications Manager. The term: "Long-Haul" referred to long-distance telephone circuits and that's exactly what I did. I was the US ARNG Headquarters long-distance telephone circuit manager for all ARNG long-distance circuits in the US, including Hawaii and Alaska. At first the work was difficult because I knew very little about telephone circuits. However, I had a very good instructor, a Delaware ARNG first lieutenant who showed me the ropes. After a few months, I had no trouble at all performing my work.
Education, education and more education. I cannot stress enough how important every type of education is for a successful military career. I myself attended 19 weeks of Airborne Radio Operations School at Keesler AFB, Mississippi; four weeks of NCO Preparatory School at Mather AFB, California; six weeks of NCO Academy at Langley AFB, Virginia; nine weeks of Senior NCO Academy at Gunther AFS, Alabama and one week at the Military Airlift Command's Chief Master Sergeants Introductory Course at Scott AFB, Illinois. I also attended courses in Management for Air Force Supervisors, OJT Administrator and Air Force Leadership Principals.
