USAFA Class Heritage Class of 1963

Resigned Capt Air Force: P: 

D: 18 June 06; near Hillsborough, NC (North Carolina);

69-04: Capt AmericanAirlines MiamilntlApt;

68-69: PltC-124 50MASq (Military Airlift Squadron) HickamAFB;

65-66: Pit (Pilot) 14TrpCSq (Troop Carrier Squadron) HunterAFB;

63-64: PltTng (Pilot Training) VanceAFB; 

1AM (Air Medal)-1AFCM (Air Force Commendation Medal)

35th Reunion (1998): After graduation it was on to UPT at Vance AFB, in beautiful Oklahoma. After UPT I was assigned to C-124s at Hunter AFB where I spent the next year and was fortunate enough to experience flying in Europe, Africa, and as far east as India. The tour at Hunter was cut short due to base closure, and a large contingent of us went from there to Hickam AFB in Honolulu. Flying out of Hickam was about as close to a slice of heaven as things come on this earth. While Vietnam was heating up, we flew all over Asia as well as the South Pacific Islands, and then went TDY to Clark AFB to fly “in country.” After 4 years at Hickam I felt that flying could only go down hill, and a TDY to the Pentagon made me realize that flying a desk was not where my ambitions wanted to take me, so I opted out of the Air Force in November 1969. In 1970 I was hired as a pilot by American Airlines and based in Washington, D.C. There was an AFRES unit over at Andrews flying C- 124s, and as I was a flight engineer at American and missed the hands-on flying, I signed on. The airlines at that time also entered one of their periodic downcycles, and I soon found myself unemployed at mid-year. While furloughed for 2 1/2 years I went back to school and took enough courses to get qualified as a civil engineer, and worked as such, and flew nights with the AF Reserves. During this time I also transitioned to the C- 130s and finished out my twenty years at Andrews. After getting back with American in 1973, I stayed in Washington until 1982 when I went to Dallas to fly as a copilot. By 1986 I was fortunate enough to make captain, and am now flying 767s out of Miami to South America and Europe. On the personal side, I am married to a wonderful gal, and we have a home in North Carolina as well as Florida. I also have three children, the last of which just finished grad school as you can see in the photo. I hope to see everyone at the 35th at USAFA.