I finally got my Bachelor of Science degree in June 2006, 40 years after starting my college career with an Operation Bootstrap course at Moody AFB. The motto for the graduation party was:
"40 years spanning five decades, seven colleges and one lousy degree."
I am married to a marriage and family therapist, and we have two adult children, one son-in-law, and one happy Beagle. On the whole, our life has been pretty good. I married my wife about 16 months after she hired me as a social services case worker. In October 2017, we will celebrate 38 years of marriage.
I am a Chapter Service Officer for William V. Brpoks Chapter 47, Disabled American Veterans. Our small (330 members) chapter is the most active in Nebraska; seven of our members are in the top ten DAV members state-wide for volunteer hours worked. In addition to the DAV, I am a Life Member of the VVA and also a member of the Tan Son Nhut Association.
Other Comments:
I enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 and was on active duty from August 1965 to January 1969. Following basic aircraft mechanic training at Sheppard AFB, I worked in the T-37 Periodic Inspection Dock at Moody AFB. I pulled a six week TDY to McDill AFB to learn the F-4, then a 19 month tour at Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, as a crew chief with the 12th Tac Recon Sqd . On my "dream sheet" I asked for reassignment to Lockbourne AFB (now Rickenbacker ANGB) in Ohio. Some idiot in the Pentagon thought Idaho and Ohio were close enough and I was assigned to the 10th TRS at Mt. Home. I was loaned out to the 22nd TRS for a�21 day TDY to Germany following the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. I was released from active duty on January 28, 1969, completed my six-year commitment in the Individual Ready Reserve and was honorably discharged in August 1971.
My brother and I are the fifth consecutive generation of our family to serve in the military. My brother joined the Army at age 18 and retired as a Major. He lives a half mile from the Big Shanty battlefield where our great-great grandfather was wounded while serving in the 32nd Ohio Vounteer Infantry during the Civil War. His son, our great-grandfather served in the Ohio National Guard in the late 19th century; two of his sons served during World War I. Our dad served as a crew chief on B-24s during WW II and was in pilot training when the war ended; his male cousins all served in either the Army or Marines. His brother is retired from the USAF.
I worked on the recon version of the F-4. It was the same basic airframe, with a different nose section and radome to accommodate cameras and infra-red sensors. The early versions carried no armament but were wired to carry a nuke on the center-line station in the event of all out war. Later versions wre wired to carry defensive air-to-air missles.
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F-4 Phantom Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
From Wikipedia: The F-4 Phantom was designed as a fleet defense fighter for the U.S. Navy, and first entered service in 1960. By 1963, it had been adopted by the U.S. Air Force for the fighter-bomber role. When production ended in 1981, 5,195 Phantom IIs had been built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.[7] Until the advent of the F-15 Eagle, the F-4 also held a record for the longest continuous production with a run of 24 years. Innovations in the F-4 included an advanced pulse-doppler radar and extensive use of titanium in its airframe.[8] Despite the imposing dimensions and a maximum takeoff weight of over 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg),[9] the F-4 had a top speed of Mach 2.23 and an initial climb of over 41,000 ft per minute (210 m/s).[10] Shortly after its introduction, the Phantom set 15 world records,[11] including an absolute speed record of 1,606.342 mph (2,585.086 km/h), and an absolute altitude record of 98,557 ft (30,040 m).[12] Although set in 1959?1962, five of the speed records were not broken until 1975 when the F-15 Eagle came into service.[11] The F-4 could carry up to 18,650 pounds (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and unguided, guided, and nuclear bombs.[13] Since the F-8 Crusader was to be used for close combat, the F-4 was designed, like other interceptors of the day, without an internal cannon;[14] In a dogfight, the RIO or WSO (commonly called "backseater" or "pitter") assisted in spotting opposing fighters, visually as well as on radar. It became the primary fighter-bomber of both the Navy and Air Force by the end of the Vietnam War. Due to its distinctive appearance and widespread service with United States military and its allies, the F-4 is one of the best-known icons of the Cold War. It served in the Vietnam War and Arab?Israeli conflicts, with American F-4 crews achieving 277 aerial victories in South East Asia and completing countless ground attack sorties.[15] The F-4 Phantom has the distinction of being the last United States fighter to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two WSOs,[16] and the USN one pilot and one RIO,[17] become aces in air-to-air combat. It was also a capable tactical reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (suppression of enemy air defenses) platform, seeing action as late as 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.[4][5] The F-4 Phantom II was also the only aircraft used by both of the USA's flight demonstration teams.[18] The USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the USN Blue Angels (F-4J) both switched to the Phantom for the 1969 season; the Thunderbirds flew it for five seasons,[19] the Blue Angels for six.[20] The baseline performance of a Mach 2-class fighter with long range and a bomber-sized payload would be the template for the next generation of large and light/middle-weight fighters optimized for daylight air combat. The Phantom would be replaced by the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force. In the U.S. Navy, it would be replaced by the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet which revived the concept of a dual-role attack fighter.[21]