USAFA Class Heritage Class of 1963

Zigs and Zags€"that is a good way to describe my Academy, Air Force and subsequent careers.

This started when I applied for the Class of €˜62 as a high school senior. I was accepted, but then €˜they€™ discovered that I had 20/25 distant vision in one eye. So I got to be a Golden Boy. (I also zigged when I should have zagged when Buzz Patterson put my nose over near my left ear during doolie boxing!)

I thought I was going to Nav School upon graduation, but was offered a medical waiver to go to UPT€"after a detour to Georgetown.

I was fortunate enough to get F-100s with assignments at Bien Hoa and Lakenheath. There I came down with juvenile diabetes (at age 28!). End of flying; hello Intelligence work€"mostly at Tactical Air Command (TAC) Headquarters.

This was going well until the medics (€˜them€™ again) decided that complications from the diabetes were appearing and decided to medically retire me at the 16-year point. BIG ZIG! Ever lie awake at 0300 and wonder how to feed your family on 30% on a Major€™s base pay?

Went out to Tucson and tied up with Hughes Missiles on the Infra Red (IR) Maverick Missile program. Great work and a great place to live€"and then we zagged to Georgia for nine years to start and help manage a friendly missile plant. While there I gained a kidney and lost part of a leg (€˜them€™ strikes again). We came back to Tucson three years ago and plan to zig out of the active work force in Dec 97.

I zigged (or was I due a zag?) back into flying. I joined the Tucson Soaring Club last year and am having a ball (no medical certificate required). After retirement, I€™m going to continue to fly, instruct and be a docent at the Pima Air Museum.

Although I credit the Academy for the best background and education possible, the central constant through all this meandering has been my wife and family! We met when I was at Luke. Judy and our two sons have been by far the most important and significant elements in my life.

With them as a central core, a few zigs and zags just make life a little more interesting! Submitted 1998.

35th Reunion (1998): Zigs and Zags—that is a good way to describe my Academy, Air Force and subsequent careers. This started when I applied for the Class of “62 as a high school senior. I was accepted, but then ‘they’ discovered that I had 20/25 distant vision in one eye. So I got to be a Golden Boy. (I also zigged when I should have zagged when Buzz Patterson put my nose over near my left ear during doolie boxing! ) I thought I was going to Nav School upon graduation, but was offered a medical waiver to go to UPT—after a detour to Georgetown. I was fortunate enough to get F-100s with assignments at Bien Hoa and Lakenheath. There I came down with juvenile diabetes (at age 28!). End of flying; hello Intelligence work—mostly at Tactical Air Command (TAC) Headquarters. This was going well until the medics (‘them’ again) decided that complications from the diabetes were appearing and decided to medically retire me at the 16-year point. BIG ZIG! Ever lie awake at 0300 and wonder how to feed your family on 30% on a Major’s base pay? Went out to Tucson and tied up with Hughes Missiles on the Infra Red (IR) Maverick Missile program. Great work and a great place to live—and then we zagged to Georgia for nine years to start and help manage a friendly missile plant. While there I gained a kidney and lost part of a leg (‘them’ strikes again). We came back to Tucson three years ago and plan to zig out of the active work force in Dec 97. I zigged (or was I due a zag?) back into flying. I joined the Tucson Soaring Club last year and am having a ball (no medical certificate required). After retirement, I’m going to continue to fly, instruct and be a docent at the Pima Air Museum. Although I credit the Academy for the best background and education possible, the central constant through all this meandering has been my wife and family! We met when I was at Luke. Judy and our two sons have been by far the most important and significant elements in my life. With them as a central core, a few zigs and zags just make life a little more interesting!