SSgt John House, U.S. Air Force (1977-1991)

My primary AFSC was 328×3, Electronic Warfare Systems Specialist, and I achieved a 7-level before being medically discharged after being struck by a drunk driver. My first two assignments were 1st Special Operations Wing (Tactical Air Command at first, then later Military Airlift Command) at Hurlburt Field, where I participated in the Iran hostage rescue mission in April 1980 as part of the 100-member logistics crew that accompanied our special operations aircraft to Egypt for the forward staging location, and the 51st Tactical Fighter Wing (Tactical Air Command) at Homestead AFB where I worked on the last operational F-4D squadrons. I worked within my primary at both of these first two assignments and loved working on aircraft outside on the flight line.

After that, I was shanghaied into the Electronic Security Command, which siphoned off Electronic Warfare techs to work in the U-2 program. I got orders for the 6903 ESG at Osan AB in South Korea and a one-month training class for a new system in Washington, D.C., or PCSing. While still a 328×3, I was now working on a ground system linked to the U2 out of a bunker buried deep underground.

When I first arrived at Osan, my shop was still working on an older system in place for several years, and I was tasked to continue that maintenance for a short time, then help to decommission it and, pack it up, and ship it off to depot for refurbishment, then assist contractors with bringing the new system online that I had been trained on. This job required an extremely stressful schedule of a rotating 5-day shift of 12 hours for 3 days, with a 2-day break, then switching to the other 12-hour shift, based on a 3 AM-3 PM and then 3 PM-3 AM time frame. It worked out to 3 days on, 2-1/2 days off on one rotation, then 3 days on, and 1-1/2 days off on the other rotation (we called it “3-on, 2-off” since that was how it averaged out). No weekends, no holidays, no participation in base or squadron events, and it felt like I lost 10 years of my life in the 15 months I was there.

My follow-on from Osan was to Operating Location B.A. (OB.A.A) of the 6947 Electronic Security Squadron out of Key West Naval Air Station. OLBA was located at Patrick AFB, where I followed the airborne side of the system I had helped pack away at Osan, working on the U-2 instead of the ground station. Our unit (OLBA) was co-located with Detachment 5 (Det. 5) of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing out of Beale AFB, which owned the U-2. We became peripherally involved in the Space Shuttle program when they resumed launches after the Challenger disaster, which I had watched happen on a monitor at the St. Louis airport while catching a hop back to Korea from my emergency leave. NASA determined there was heat tile loss on the Shuttle during launch and contracted our U-2 unit to fly an orbit above the launch site and film the launch, after which the pilot (the Det. 5 commander) flew over our hangar and took a picture of us formed in the shape of a “5” on the tarmac outside the hangar. We got copies of those pics, a couple of which I’ve attached. When that U-2 tasking expired, our unit was decommissioned, and having been struck and injured by a drunk driver after 3 years of rehab while in the process of receiving a medical discharge, I stayed on at our hangar for another year to assist the incoming unit, a depot maintenance function for the 481st Air Wing of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics Matters, which was moving up from the Opa Locka airport in Miami.

I spent a total of 13 years on active duty and became very skilled at troubleshooting complex issues. These skills became very useful in the next phase of my life when the V.A. sent me to college to obtain a degree in computer science. I fell in love with computer programming, as it requires a deep level of logic and troubleshooting skills, which I gained from my Air Force experience. My job after graduation was with the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt (BPD), now the Bureau of Fiscal Services (BFS), where I applied new technology to automate BPD’s processes, both internal (intranet) and external (Internet). This included processing correspondence for savings bond issues that arrived by mail and phone, international security auctions that financed the USA, and the Treasury Direct website that provided a portal for private citizens and government entities to buy, manage and sell U.S. government financial vehicles such as savings bonds, notes, bills, and securities. I spent 11 years at this job before the injuries from the drunk driver finally forced me into early retirement.

Read the Military Memories of our Runner-Ups.