Two Careers, and Both Extremely Entertaining

I entered the Navy in March 1967, did a 4 year hitch as an air traffic controller and some inactive Reserve time then, when things didn't get any better, I went back in the Navy till February 1978. I dallied with the FAA awhile and decided I was probably going to have to go back to school after all. Hook 'Em 'Horns!

Lounging in the photo lab with my Photographer's Mate buddy in Adak, Alaska.

One or two planes a day was typical; hardly enough traffic to maintain certification.

While I was in Adak, the 'Horns won the 1969 and 1970 National Championships. Note the Orange Tower.

When I went Active Duty again in 1973 I was lucky enough to get two wonderful Med Cruises on the FDR.

When the weather's good on a carrier you can watch Flight Deck Choreography Classes run by the Air Boss.

Vertical and Underway Replenishments entertained us at sea and kept us in Cokes and smokes.

But liberty was what it was all about. Harry Webb was my guide in Rome while the ship was in Naples. We even got a Papal Blessing with thousands of others in the piazza on All Saints Day, 1973.

A view of St Peter's Basilica from the Borghese Gardens, November 1973.

Shooting pics and slurping Spaghetti Carbonara across the street from the Foro Romano.

Stumbled across the Barcelona Zoo in 1973 and found Snowflake (the Vanilla Gorilla), NatGeo coverboy in '67.

Standing on the Acropolis with the Parthenon at my back. I really loved Greece.

Australia's nothing to sneeze at either. The Sydney Harbor Bridge is the site of wonderful New Year's fireworks displays.

Take spinnakers from the sailboats in the harbor and make an opera house out of them - sure, why not?

I think this was my first 'Roo Crossing sign on my first visit to Oz in December 1977

So I got an Aerospace Engineering degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a week or so later started work at Lockheed Missiles and Space Co, right there in Austin. I know; I must have been living right. My accountant would tell you it was not a smooth ride, bouncing back and forth between Marietta and Fort Worth for years - sometimes with Lockheed, sometimes with General Dynamics; sometimes direct, sometimes as a contract engineer. But with all the moves and layoffs it was all smoothed over when Lockheed bought General Dynamics - just changing logos. And I looked at the contract engineering as getting the company to do what I wanted on my schedule. I was never out of work for more than two weeks - it was as smooth a ride as I had any right to expect in the aerospace industry.

In the field for Lockheed on a Blue Two visit with the Air Force, Muskogee, OK, 1986. I was reading Red Storm Rising.

Tyler (above) was Program Manager and I got to be Chief Engineer. We both made the cover of Av Maintenance.

This is my over-educated crew (all engineers) after having installed Paint Replacement Film on the C-130 behind us.

A co-worker mused one day that I was "scary" when I "glared" at people. Qui, moi? I brought in this picture the next day and hung it in my cube.