“Warlord, Out!”

 March 22, 2019

Well, here we are. I can’t believe that almost 37 years went by this fast! 40, if you count getting put on a plane to Colorado and waking up the next morning with no hair and smartly dressed people yelling at you.

I have to thank the people who got me here. That includes just about everybody. In no way, shape or form could I have reached this day without the help of pretty much everyone I’ve ever met. You realize late in life that you have been influenced in some way by everyone you meet, for good or bad. In my case, I have been truly blessed.

        For today’s event I’d like to thank Col Miller, Chaplain Johnson, Col Frankenbery for that moving rendition of our National Anthem, SMSgt Schatzman, SMSgt Martindale, Maj Sullivan, and my daughter Kara for setting this all up. Lt Col Clark and the crew of PITT 01… what a way to end it! Thank you so much.

My parents, and brother and sisters. You are who you are raised with, and each had a huge impact on the guy who walked onto a plane in 1978 and went off to college. They had high expectations of me, and I was just foolish enough to try to live up to them. My Dad was an F-4 pilot, and if you’ve ever read the book, “the Great Santini,” you have some sense of what I grew up with. I think I did OK.

By far the most important person in my life is my wife, Laura. There are not enough words. As you heard, we met on Active Duty in South Dakota, and for some reason she said “yes” to the skinny kid from California.  She followed me to Griffiss AFB in NY, and then I followed her to Pittsburgh. Best decision ever! We’ve been married almost 33 years and She has said “OK” more than anyone, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

My terrific kids. You changed our lives in incredible ways and we are both so proud of who you are and what your lives will bring.

My incredible parents-in-law: Pat and Stewart Griest. They took me into their lives and helped raise my kids every single day I was gone TDY or deployed, which when you total it up, is pretty significant. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Leadership is a funny thing. Keep track of the good and the bad. I’ve seen my share of both. I owe a lot to a Capt Mark E. S. Mayhew. He was my Air Officer Commanding my senior year at the Academy, and threw down the gauntlet.

How do you like me now?

I’ve had awesome mentors and friends through the years. Somehow I lucked out being in the best Squadrons and getting on the best crews with all the best people. In B-52s it was Chris Moore, Jim Veazey, Larry Saunders, Dave Re, Dave Shunk, Ralph Davino, Steve Thomas, Tim Vinoski, and smokin’ Joe Bowden. In the Herk, Lowery Baily hired me, probably against his better judgement, and I got to fly and work with the likes of Joe Poznik; Aldo Filoni; Bob Jacobs; Bill Estright; Bill Gutermuth;  Diane Patton; Bo Bear; Ray Toy; Bobby D’Amico; Tom Huzzard; Dan Ruedisueli; Jaime Carter; Tracey McArdle; Janet Johnson; Darius Pirzadeh; Foge; Eddy T; Meat; JB; DO Extraordiaires Bill Fedorka and Chinky Kochansky; and of course my Brothers-in-Deportation, Lance Hupp, Brad Ayer, Bob Mathe, Dave Robbins, and John Cellurale. Long Live the Qatari SIX!!!

I have had some awesome experiences. It starts off with great crews and Aircraft Commanders who will lean as far forward as I do; SAC Bomb Comp, 8th Air Force Blue Ribbon Crew, Duel in The Sun, 15th Air Force Shootout, topless beaches in Spain. Coronet Oak: alleged karyoke in Puerto Rico, climbing a volcano in Iceland then soaking in a geothermal hot spring at 2 am, landing on a dirt strip in the Amazon and watching a bunch of bearded dudes walk off into the jungle. Bosnia relief missions, flying supplies in for Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina Relief, Southern Watch to Saudi Arabia in 1993,  being on the 1994 Airlift Rodeo team in my backyard at McChord AFB where my Dad got to watch me shack a Heavy Equipment drop.

Being on the radio as the Oak Mission Commander when one of my crews successfully crash lands an airplane at Roosevelt Roads. Picking up the phone in the desert as the Squadron Commander, and having an irate tower guy tell me one of my crews called him a Jag-off after landing on a blacked-out closed runway. Two years of activation, shooting flares off all over the desert during deployment after deployment to Salem and Al Udeid for Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve and Freedoms Sentinel, including getting deported, an epic bus ride through Seville, and an even more epic plane ride home on a Rotator as the Troop Commander.

On the IGI team, I got the chance to do big mission exercises: Bold Effort (8 ship); Steel Challenges (6-ships); and Lycoming Reach, where we ran 840 people, 4 planes  and 125 patients across three states in a single day. Being a DO; and now finally part of C-17 Transition team where we are setting the ground for the next 25 years of operations here at Pittsburgh. Trust me, you can’t script this life out.

So what have I learned from all of this?

Life moves fast. Blink and the first 10 years are done. 30 happen before you realize it.

My advice to you as a crusty old has-been is pretty simplistic:

1.  Take care of your family. They will be around long after we’re forgotten here.

2.  Take care of your people. They will make you better every time.

3.  Mistakes and failures are what happens on the way to success.

4.  Say “Yes” as often as possible. You won’t be sorry.

5.  Write your own Performance reports. No one cares about your career as much as you do.

6.  Do it all. Ask for more. See Item 4.

7.  Go ahead and check the boxes, never pass up a back-up plan.

8.  Read. A lot.

9.  Don’t be a Jerk. Nobody does this alone.

Bill Estright had it right: Any mission worth doing is worth overdoing; moderation is for quitters.

I am proud to have been part of these mighty mighty airlifters - men and women who literally live at the tip of the spear… Fighters… eh: they zoom around the skies at 30,000 shooting at shadows on a radar scoop. Tac airlifters swoop down out of the night into the most austere landing zones in the world, often under fire; they execute with brashness and daring bravado to deliver critical men and material to all aspects of the fight. You rock!

Good luck to all of you in the days and years ahead.

Thank you all for the great ride. You’ve made this the greatest experience anyone could want or have. I salute you!

Warlord, Out.