Well, I’ve finally gotten “round tuit” and here’s my bio:
Since I was the youngest in the class and I’ll be 61 in June – you can safely say that everyone in the class is 60 something.
I was born June 30th 1942 in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. Someone told my Dad to “Go West, Young Man” so we moved to Seattle when I was 4 months old. Being the third of four siblings I learned to “hold my own” and found the cup half full most of the time.
When I found they wouldn’t let me be an airline stewardess until I was 21, I enlisted in the Air Force – the biggest “airline” in the world. After 2 years as an airman in the intelligence career field, I was granted a waiver to get into the last class of OCS. The waiver was necessary because I wouldn’t be 21 until 9 days after being commissioned. So, I was the youngest in our class!
OCS was one of the more memorable experiences in my lifetime – as all of you 63D people are well aware.; After the big effort of getting thru the “program” – along with about a dozen of our classmates, I went into the Transportation field.
As a Traffic Management Officer, I was the leader of the men who moved people and things over land, sea, and air, – by military and commercial conveyances. As a “transporter” I also worked in and “commanded” air terminal operations.
I created the Logistics Readiness Center for the Air Evacuation Wing headquartered at Scott AFB. The function of that small but critical element was to expedite the delivery of parts to downed air evac aircraft anywhere in the CONUS. Another of my “fun” assignments was as the transporter on the SAC IG team. My last 6 years in the Air Force were spent with Joint Command assignments. I had to get out of the Air Force to get out of the Army.
My career had me globetrotting: from Texas to Okinawa, to Scott AFB, IL; to Wiesbaden, Germany; to Omaha, NE (for “bootstrap” and a bachelor’s degree); to Utapao, Thailand; to March AFB, Riverside, CA; to Alameda, CA; to Oberursel, Germany (where I got a Masters Degree); to Oakland, CA where I retired in 1981.
I began my retirement playing tennis, skiing, traveling & job hunting. Before I got serious about the job business I tripped and fell in love. Col Jake Bush (Ret) was my commander in Okinawa when I was a lieutenant; 19 yrs later, after he was divorced, he found me in Alameda and we got smitten.
We moved to Niceville, FL (near Eglin AFB) where Jake worked in the Defense Contract business for 7 years, and then as a consultant for a couple more. I dabbled in the travel agency and real estate business until my Mom moved to my neighborhood from Seattle. I spent a goodly amount of time w/ her until Mar ’98 when she became my guardian angel.
For the last 18+ years since Jake and I have been married – and living in FL – we’ve become frequent golfers, travelers, and Jake does a bit of fishing. We have a motor home and have done the trek to Alaska and Nova Scotia as well as points in between. We’re getting ready to head north for the 5th summer – to escape the intolerable heat and humidity of the Florida summers!!
