It was 1970. I was a senior at Lakes High School, in Lakewood, Washington.
Being clueless at the time, I hadn’t seriously considered my post-graduation plans. I had no idea what I was going to do after graduation. I hadn't even applied for any scholarships. I had hardly put any thought into my future. I did have one love, aviation, but I did not even think about a career in it.
College didn’t appear feasible since my father couldn’t afford it for any of us four kids, with me being the eldest.
I was not yet a Christian, but looking back, I see how God aligned circumstances to give me a great career in an almost obvious field...AVIATION.
As a senior, I attended a mandatory meeting with the school counselor to discuss my possible future. While waiting in his outer office, I noticed a rotating rack filled with pamphlets. The one about the Air Force caught my eye perhaps because my dad had served as an enlisted aviator (Gunner) in the B-52. It was an advertisement to become an Officer in the Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). There are other ways to become an officer. The Academies or after college is completed, there are Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) for each service.
This is a good point to explain that all military services, including the Coast Guard, have 2 basic ranks, Commissioned Officers, called just "Officers". The Air Force has increasing ranks starting with Second Lieutenant, and moving up the chain by promotions to First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lt. Colonel, Colonel, then General officer. The highest officer rank for those three services is the Four Star General. See the graphic below.
Click to see a blog that defines the difference between officer and enlisted.
The other major group are the "Enlisted" men and women, also known as Non-Commissioned Officers or NCOs. Starting at the lowest rank of private, then moving up by promotion to more senior positions. Technically every Enlisted person is lower in rank than the first Air Force Officer rank of Second Lieutenant. See the graphic below to see the various ranks.
Click to see a blog that defines the difference between officer and enlisted.
Growing up as an “Air Force Brat,” and my dad being an aviator and NCO, I spent my first 15 years around Air Force bases. Often as a kid, I would ride my bike down to get a view of the runway. It was exciting to see these monster airplanes like the B-52 bombers and KC-135 tankers (both Boeing products, by the way) pushing up those engines and generating noise and tremendous thrust to takeoff. While there, some planes would come back to the base and fly around the pattern doing touch and go landings before a final one at the end of their crew day. For the B-52s, the flight would be an average of 12 hours. My dad was on some of those planes that I watched. I wondered what it would be like to fly them.
That life always seemed appealing to me.
While examining the brochure, which featured monochromatic images of aircraft and smiling aviators (exclusively males at that time) clad in flight gear, I recalled a remark once made by my father, who retired in the respectable rank of Master Sergeant. He had expressed his frustration about the officers by saying,
“Those damn officers. They make a load of money and don’t do anything.”
Hmmm…that sounded intriguing. Who wouldn’t want to do THAT for a living?
I clung to the pamphlet as I entered the counselor’s office. During our conversation, I broached the topic of an Air Force Officer career. He glanced at my folder, furrowing his brow, and delivered an emotionless verdict: “I don’t believe you have the necessary IQ for that.”
It was a rare moment when shock and anger collided within me. He did not know me...he had no ideas of what I should do...none. It was almost a waste of my time...except for that brochure and his unintentional encouragement.
The meeting concluded abruptly. Still angry, I rose from my seat and exited the room, silently muttering to myself, “Challenge accepted!”
I completed the pamphlet form that evening and promptly mailed it the following day. Fortunately, it was still January, allowing me to apply for scholarships without delay. Approximately a week later, I received a response—a letter in the mail—inviting me to take the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT). I had to get on McChord Air Force Base to take the exams. Back then, as long as your car had a military supplied sticker, you could get waved right through. So getting to the testing location wasn’t hard in Dad’s car. It was an honor when he let me drive it.
Dad's 1968 Ford Mustang
I was with about a dozen other young men. Later the Air Force would finally accept that women can be great pilots too, but not for another 6 years.
The test was a battery of multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Some were asked twice or more times in a different way. Towards the end of the test, there were visuals of various flight instruments that you needed to match with airplanes in different positions. An aircraft might be in a right bank (turn), climbing, or descending. To me, it seemed straightforward. However, at that point in my life, I wasn’t aware of the various learning styles children have. As it turns out, I am a tactile/visual learner, which meant I struggled in classes where the only instruction was chalk writing on dark blackboards or reading through a book with no pictures. On the other hand, I excelled in geometry and biology because I could visualize angles and answers in my mind, or even touch the dissected frog. Ironically, this learning style contributed to my proficiency as a pilot.
About a week later, I received another invitation to take a medical examination. That seemed to me that I must have done well on the AFOQT, right? I didn’t receive a score that I remember, just this invitation. So, I got a full medical checkup complete with bloodwork, turned my head and coughed, hearing test, and a detailed eye examination. I never wore glasses and the examiner was kind enough to say I had 20/20 in my left eye and 20/15 in my right. He assured me that was good. Later I would find that if you had anything worse than 20/20 in both eyes you could not be entered into pilot training at that time.
I was informed that I had passed this phase and went into a final phase. This was an essay exam. They would ask a question and you had a whole page to hand write the answer. We could take this one home. So I answered as best I could. One question that haunted me was “What leadership positions have you had?”
I really never had much of an opportunity when I thought about it. I started Junior High school in Grand Forks, North Dakota. We rode a bus 17 miles from the base into town every day. I was quiet but popular in junior high school. To this day I do not know why. I think it was because I was kind to everyone I met. It seems to be a common theme in the life of a military brat because you had to make new friends every 3-4 years when dad changed duty stations.
Surprisingly, at the end of 8th grade I was voted to be class president in 9th grade at Schroeder Junior High. It was so exciting for me. I had started planning on what to concentrate on, I met with teachers who helped give ideas and encouragement. I was pumped.
But that summer after 8th grade, my Dad retired and we moved to a new location… Tacoma, Washington. I would have to start over again, make friends again, get used to new weather patterns and geography of the new area...again. Sigh.
When we got settled in, I went to Hudtloff Junior High for the 9th grade only. It was the first time I had seen organized sports. I especially was intrigued by wrestling and rugby.
The next year, 1967 I attended Lakes High School and joined organized sports for the first time in my life. Cross country, wrestling, and track. I didn’t understand the value of clubs, but I did join the letterman’s club.
I was also in the very first computer club, where I became president.
Pretty pathetic if you need to prove your leadership. So in the essay I explained that we had moved often and I had to compete with people who had grown up their whole lives in the same schools. There was almost no chance for me to be voted into any office as I was always an unknown kid.
I pretty much gave up hope of getting a scholarship at that point. I started looking into various jobs at a Piggly Wiggly where I worked as a stock and bag boy. I could work my way up to assistant manager someday and maybe even manager if I played my cards right.
But in March of 1970, three months before graduation, I received a letter informing me that I had received a full college scholarship to be a Second Lieutenant and pilot in the United States Air Force! I would be enrolled in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at a college that had the program as long as I was accepted for admittance.
I had to sit down and read it a second time to make sure I understood. God had given me the desire of my heart!
Dad was very happy. I guess that officer thing wasn’t a total loss for him.
I smiled a lot during those last 3 months of high school.
But, I recall after I got word of the scholarship, I really questioned their wisdom... wondering if they had made a mistake. I could not have convinced them of my leadership ability, never having the opportunity to show it in school.
Over the years as I gained rank and sat on various Air Force boards, I imagined being the Major or Lieutenant Colonel who sat on the board reviewing my essay. I think they may have been thinking of their own children having the same issue and experiencing great empathy with my plight. I will never know for sure. I just praise God for their gift to me.
Now I just had to get accepted (with my 3.3 grade point average) to one of the colleges nationwide that had ROTC on campus.
The scholarship paid for tuition, books and even had a monthly stipend of $50 spending money. But not housing nor food. So I looked at the two local colleges that had the program where I could drive to from home. Both were private colleges with very expensive tuition. Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) and the University of Puget Sound (UPS).
I applied for both but UPS was the first to bless with an acceptance letter in early May.
That summer I did hard labor at a construction site making a good salary. Enough to purchase an acceptable diamond ring. I finally worked up the courage to ask this beautiful high school alumni, Jody Andrews, for her hand in marriage.
An exciting four years of college with embedded military training awaited me. Included was the first phase of pilot training in a four seat, Cessna 172.
My next stories will be highlighting some experiences in that airplane.
