Robert Ray Fuller
"Ray"
Biography as of Mar 26, 2013
Ray Fuller
I graduated with the class on June 5, 1963. I was married on that day to Ann Davis. We have three children, Tim, Cindy, and Geoffrey. I attended Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, graduating in September, 1964. My following assignments were:
1964 - 1968 T-38 Instructor Pilot at Vance AFB, Ok. I also taught academic classes in Systems Operation and Aerodynamics. A side job was maintenance test pilot. As my initial commitment to the Air Force was nearly complete, I volunteered for Vietnam with my first two choices the F-105 and F-100.
1968 - 1969 F-100 Training at Myrtle Beach AFB, SC. Myrtle Beach was nearly deserted as the Wing had been deployed to Southeast Asia but two Air Guard squadrons had been activated to train replacement pilots for Vietnam. Our instructors were primarily airline pilots who were high-timers in the "Hun" but somewhat laid back as instructors. We got great training, however. One day when were having air-to-air training taking passes at a towed dart, I was shooting two guns. On my first pass, one gun failed to fire and the other only fired one round. Each of us in the flight had different colored tips on our ammunition. My color was red. When we landed, the de-arm crew ascertained that I had only fired one round. When the dart was recovered and scored, it only had one hit - red. Nobody could recall a 100% score on a dart. That section of the dart was cut out and presented to me at graduation. My classmate, Jim Gaston, won the commander's Top Gun trophy as the top overall graduate of the class. However, I was presented with an award as the "Outstanding new fighter pilot". We both proceeded directly to Vietnam.
1969 - 1970 F-100 Pilot Phan Rang AB/Tactical Air Control Center TanSonhut AB, Vietnam. I was initially assigned to the 615th TFS at Phan Rang and flew 89 missions before receiving an assignment to the 7th AF TACC as a duty officer handling short notice (immediate) fighter missions. We had hot lines to all the air bases in Vietnam and could scramble fighters as requests came in from the Direct Air Support Centers. On my days off, I was allowed to go back to Phan Rang and fly missions. I was normally put on Alert status with a loaded aircraft on standby to receive these "immediate" missions. That entailed a phone call, a scramble to the aircraft, and a two ship takeoff and flight to a designated point where we would meet up with an airborne Forward Air Controller who would direct us onto the target. On a good day back in the squadron, I could count on three missions. That allowed me to record 123 total combat missions for the tour. I received 6 Air Medals, a Bronze Star, and a Distinguished Flying Cross during that year.
1970 - 1971 F-100 Instructor at Luke AFB, Az. Prior to departing Vietnam, I received a follow-on assignment to graduate school starting a year after my return to the States. Since the F-100 school at Luke was scheduled to shut down the following year, I helped train the last couple of classes in the bird and then went on to graduate school.
1971 - 1973 Graduate Student at Arizona State University. Since the Air Force had pulled many pilots from behind-the-line jobs to fill cockpits in Vietnam, there were many jobs needing filled. My assigned AFSC was Automated Data Processing. Several civilian schools were on the list for me to choose from and Arizona State University was just across town. Since ASU did not have a Computer Science Department yet, I could take required courses in Business or Engineering. I chose Engineering, receiving a MS in Industrial Engineering, majoring in "Computer Science". Not like a Computer Science degree today. My computer related courses were primarily math, modeling, and programming.
1973 - 1976 Computer Systems Analyst at the Air Force Human Resources Lab at Williams AFB, Az. While still at ASU I was informed there was a new laboratory opening at Williams AFB that would be installing the latest flight simulators and would be performing research into pilot training. It so happened they had a computer systems analyst civilian position which was not yet filled. I talked to the commander of the lab and when they learned that I had been a pilot instructor and had a computer degree, they changed the position to a military position. We installed two full visual, full motion, T-37 cockpits and proceeded to investigate how much simulator fidelity contributed to how a pilot learned flying tasks. One goal set by the researchers was never achieved, that was, could a computer grade and score a pilot's performance in place of an instructor pilot? Too many subjective variables.
1976 - 1977 Student at Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Va.
1977 - 1981 AT-38 Instructor at Lead In Fighter Training, Holloman AFB, NM. I was initially assigned to the 479th TFTS to form a team to build a full syllabus for a 25 ride training course for pilots directly out of pilot training who were enroute to fighter training in F-4, F-111, A-10, F-15, and F-16. The 479th was expanding from one squadron to three flying squadrons and one academic squadron. After completing the syllabus and receiving a promotion, I finished my tour as a squadron operations officer.
1981 - 1982 Air Force Liaison Officer with 2nd US Infantry, Korea. As I was completing my tour at Holloman, I received an assignment to a Brigade on the DMZ in Korea as an Air Force Liaison Officer. Working directly for the Brigade Commander, my job was to be the link to the supporting air assets in case war broke out. The job fulfilled my required "Joint Service" requirement for my attendance at the Armed Forces Staff College. Very interesting job where I learned about how the Army does things in a close "enemy (N. Korea)" environment.
1982 - 1984 Deputy Commander, 4449th Mobility Sqdn, Holloman AFB. My last assignment was back to Holloman working with a squadron tasked to maintaining 96 acres of "Bare Base Equipment". This equipment was all air transportable and could create a small base if we had a runway and a source of water within 5 miles. We had all the specialties within our personnel to perform nearly all functions of a base. One deployment was equipment and personnel to Granada to set up a runway light set during that small contingency. Another was to ship equipment to Ascension Island during a contingency in the South Atlantic.
I retired as an O-5 on May 31, 1984. At that time I found work with Link Flight Similation Company at Williams AFB until 1989. Here I was the site manager for Link, doing engineering support for the same research we had performed years before. When we lost the contract (due to our company being sold to a Canadian company without a security arrangement with the US Government) I went to work for McDonnell Douglas at their Helicopter Company in Mesa, Arizona, eventually heading the Flight Simulation Department until 1997 when Boeing bought the company and then had the same position with Boeing. I retired from Boeing in 2001.
I now live in Chandler, Arizona. Ann and I were divorced in 1985. I married Donna Mahoney in 1989 and we have six children in the blended family and have 14 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Donna and I enjoy traveling and spending time with our families.