The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

MSgt Elliott Wayne Carmack, U.S. Air Force (1961-2003)

MSgt Elliott Wayne Carmack, U.S. Air Force (1961-2003)

My decision to join the Air Force was influenced by the following:

FAMILY: My maternal uncle enlisted in the Army at Camp Blanding, Florida, in 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was assigned to the Army Air Corps. He was stationed at Keesler Army Airfield (Keesler Field), Mississippi, until his honorable discharge as a Sergeant the following year due to a service-connected injury sustained while working on military aircraft. My father was too old for military service, but worked in federal civil service at military bases during and following World War II, initially at Drew Field in Tampa, Florida during the war, and at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia after the war, a base I visited as a child.

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

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

What was your primary Occupational Specialty in the Military? What was the most significant skill you learned and was this useful in your civilian life?

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.

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