May is Military Appreciation Month and Connecting Vets is running a series of veteran profiles telling the stories of those who have made the military to civilian transition. In the series, the veterans discuss their military career, how they transitioned back to civilian life and what advice they offer to vets who are currently going through what they did.
1. What propelled you towards military service? When did you join, which branch, which duty position(s).
I graduated high school in 1976. Joining the military service wasn’t a popular choice then, but I have never been one to follow trends. My dad and uncles were Navy and Army veterans who served for short periods in the 1950s and my grandfather was a Soldier during WWI. A high school counselor convinced me to join the military and I chose the Air Force. Two weeks after graduation, I arrived for Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
2. Tell us a bit about your military service, positions served, moving up through the ranks, deployments, memorable moments.
After completing technical training for weapons loading, I reported to Hahn Air Base, Germany as a Bomb Loader on F-4E fighters. During my two-year tour, I loaded Germany as a Bomb Loader on F-4E fighters. During my two-year tour, I loaded everything from gun systems to conventional missiles and bombs as well as B-57 and B-61 Nuclear bombs. About a month before I was scheduled to be reassigned, my supervisor posted a notice: the Air Force was looking for volunteers to serve as Aerial Gunners on AC-130 Spectre Gunships. I rushed to the personnel office to volunteer, Gunners on AC-130 Spectre Gunships. I rushed to the personnel office to volunteer,
I reported to the 16th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida in November of 1978 to begin training. My first real-world deployment was to Panama in July of 1979 to support a Non-Combat Evacuation Operation (NEO) of the US Embassy in Nicaragua. After an uneventful mission, my crew returned to Hurlburt Field. All was quiet until 4 November 1979 when the US Embassy in Iran was seized by Iranian “students” who captured and held a number of American hostages.
Within days, my unit was directed to fly to Guam for non-standard training as part of Operation Rice Bowl. At the time, operational security was very tight and only a few were “read in” on the mission plan. In April of 1980, my crew was issued orders to travel to Germany to participate in Exercise Flintlock 80; however, the orders were just a cover story. Instead of Germany, we landed at Wadi Kena Air Base, Egypt, to participate in Operation Eagle Claw, a mission to rescue the hostages held in Iran. My crew was one of four AC-130s tasked to provide fire support for Delta Force and C/1/75 Rangers during night two during the rescue at the Embassy and airfield seizure at the extraction airfield.
Tragically, the mission was aborted on night one after an accident at Desert One with the loss of five Air Force and three Marine crewmen. About two weeks later, we returned to the CONUS, signed Non-Disclosure Agreements and didn’t talk about mission details for about 30 years. By February of 1983, my squadron was tasked by the Joint Chiefs to collect intelligence and video record night-time guerrilla activities of the FMLN in El Salvador. We operated two aircraft from Howard Air Force Base, Panama, flying 10-12 hour missions to and from El Salvador.
In October of 1983, while on a rotation to Panama flying missions to El Salvador, my crew was redeployed to provide fire support for the Special Operations Task Force and 82nd Airborne during Operation Urgent Fury. Since the mission was a “surprise situation,” the operation was rife with ad-hoc decisions and dubious tasking, but the overall effort was successful. We flew missions day and night over Grenada for several weeks then returned to Hurlburt Field. We did not return to Grenada, but our deployments to Panama to fly the El Salvador mission continued to the point where I was on station in Panama so often it seemed like a home away from home.
In 1987, when Noriega started to harass Americans stationed in Panama, we added a commitment to provide night-time armed reconnaissance over strategic US assets including the Arraijan Tank Farm and Fort Clayton Ammunition Supply Point where several Panama Defense Forces incursions occurred. By 1989, after completing at least 20 trips to Panama, we began training with the Joint Task Force for a military takeover of Panama, though few thought it would ever materialize. In early December of that year, we completed a large-scale Joint Special Operations Task Force mission rehearsal and were set to put the plan on a shelf for the holidays. Just a few days later, Noriega’s troops killed a Marine Lieutenant, then kidnapped and interrogated several others near the PDF “Comandancia” stronghold. That event provided justification for Operation Just Cause, the military takeover of Panama.
Of the nine AC-130 gunships assigned to OJC, my crew was the sole aircraft tasked to provide fire support an airfield seizure operation for 2/75 and 3/75 Rangers at Rio Hato Airfield. At about 1900 hours on 19 December, we rolled onto runway 18 at Hurlburt, set takeoff power, and took off to the south over the Gulf of Mexico. After about six hours and two aerial refuelings, we arrived overhead Rio Hato about five minutes before H-Hour (0100 hrs). From that point forward, we worked multiple targets/fire missions until about 0500 then departed for fuel. We were then diverted to Panama City and ultimately landed on Howard AFB, after sunrise. During the following days, we flew missions to support Delta Force and the 82nd Airborne. I returned to Hurlburt in January 1990, but deployed again to Panama two more times before our mission ended. Thirty years later, I returned to Panama in December of 2019 and was honored to meet many of the Rangers we supported that night.
In September of 1990, I deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield/Storm and ultimately spent six months there. It was certainly not a good time for me or anyone else in the AC-130 community as one of our gunships was shot down during the Battle of Khafji, resulting in the deaths of 14 fellow crewmen.
In September of 1993, I deployed to Italy to fly missions over Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this trip, my crew was redeployed to Africa in the wake of the Battle of Mogadishu on 3 October. We performed a “show of force” fire mission near the “Cigarette Factory” on 8 October, firing about 25 percent of our combat ammunition load in five minutes. Turns out Somali Militiamen didn’t like that for some reason. The following day, Aidid called for a cease fire and about a week later CWO Durant was repatriated from his Somali captors. When TF Ranger departed, our mission continued but shifted to support of the 10th Mountain Division. My crew flew to Mogadishu almost daily until December, and then returned to Hurlburt.
In 1994, I was assigned to the Operations Directorate at Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command as a Tactician. I performed studies, analysis and development of tactics, techniques and procedures, authored official requirements documents and ultimately developed multiple items including a 105mm Anti-Personnel projectile for the AC-130H/U. I also initiated development of the GBU-43/B “Mother Of All Bombs” (yeah, seriously, that was the real name we gave it.)
When did you transition out of the military and why?
I was promoted to Chief Master Sergeant in 2003 prompting the Air Force to tag me for an assignment away from Gunships. At the time, my entire adult life had been spent on AC-130 Gunship operations, so I declined the assignment and elected to retire. I formally retired on Feb 1 st of 2005 after serving for just under 29 years.
What did you transition to in the private sector (or continued governmental service) and what were the biggest challenges you faced in doing so?
I’ll say I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to keep my “irons in the fire” with AFSOC as a civilian. During the summer of 2005, I conducted weapons capabilities demonstrations as an adjunct professor at the Special Operations School, worked on a technology development project for a private contractor, and was a subject matter expert during two weapons-related Court Martial events. In September of 2005 I was hired as a contractor to support the Technology Demonstration Branch at HQ AFSOC. Then, in 2008, I was hired as Civil Servant in the Gunship Requirements Branch at HQ AFSOC where I continue serving today. Next month will be my 48th anniversary of serving the USAF with nearly 46 years service to the Joint Special Operations
community.
The gunship community is small and most operations conducted over the years were classified and/or not widely known in the public realm. Granted, we are collectively known as “the Quiet Professionals” but we must also be aware that it’s important to share the legacy of the AC-130 gunship before we end our final mission on this Earth. Recognizing this factor, I was recruited by the AFSOC History Office to author two AC- 130 combat history books titled “Ghostriders” to document combat operations from 1968 to 1995. It took me seven years of hard work to research and write, and about $21K to publish the books, but was worth it to document the legacy of Spectre. Both books are available on Amazon.com.
What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to a veteran currently transitioning from military service?
Hit the ground running, but don’t be afraid to look back. Lessons learned the hard way are hard to forget and they will benefit you in civilian life more than you think.