The Gift: Part Two: The Air Force Years

After flying for eight and a half years during high school and college, and participating in the Air Force ROTC Program at Ole Miss and The University of Texas, I felt I was well prepared for U. S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. In October 1965, I became a member of UPT Class 67C at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas. I can say, without reservation, that my year in UPT was the best year of my life After graduation from Webb I was assigned the C-141 Starlifter jet transport aircraft. I went to C-141 Transition Training at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in November of 1966. Afterward, I was assigned to the 76th Military Airlift Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base in Charleston, South Carolina. I flew the C-141 for two years. In December 1968, I was ordered to go to Vietnam. My aircraft assignment was the AC-47 "Spooky" Gunship. I flew "Spooky" for eight months and was then reassigned to the EC-47 Electronic Countermeasures aircraft. I completed my one-year tour in that aircraft. When I returned home after my Vietnam tour, I separated from the Air Force and started looking for an airline job.