In 1968, I enlisted in the United States Air Force, being inducted and sworn in on January 28. I was sent directly from the induction ceremony to basic training at a dilapidated Air Force training base at Amarillo, Texas, which was deactivated not long after my training there was completed.
Following basic training, I was assigned to the U. S. Air Force Security Police Academy at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, and subsequently volunteered to attend the Sentry Dog Training School which was also at Lackland AFB, with a portion of the patrol and attack training conducted at Medina Air Force Base near San Antonio. One “over and above” phase of the security police training I participated in involved a second visit to a little-known, but geographically large, bit of acreage known fondly, and officially, as Camp Bullis. This camp was used to train snipers and for specialized small-bore weapons training, live-fire infiltration training, night-fire weapons training, camouflage training, and combat tactics training.
Upon completion of my training as a Sentry Dog handler, I worked for a while as an assistant instructor in the K-9 program, before being assigned to a Specialized Security Police Detachment from Kelly Air Force Base. This assignment was to the Air Force Logistics Command and included acting as an in-house handler for the K-9 Veterinary Medical Detachment at Lackland Air Force Base, where 500=800 dogs were housed for medical care and during their 8-week training period or while awaiting reassignment. We also served as handler/escorts for routine transport of 30-35 trained sentry dogs per cargo flight to various bases in Japan and other parts of Southeast Asia.
In August, 1969, I received orders to attend AZR Training (Combat Preparedness Training) prior to reassignment to a remote base in northern Thailand where I would serve in the security detachment. After finishing the training, and as I was preparing to come home on leave, I was involved in a vehicle accident in which I sustained multiple severe injuries. I was taken to Wilford Hall U. S. Air Force Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base, where I remained, undergoing numerous corrective and reconstructive surgeries and physical therapy, through May, 1970.
I received an honorable discharge and medical retirement in June 1970 after attaining the rank of sergeant. Following my retirement, I continued my education and eventually became a long-term employee of Teledyne Brown Engineering, working on the Pressurants and Propellants contract for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center as an associate engineer. I was eventually caught in a R. I. F. at Teledyne and ended up working for the Post Office in Madison, Alabama.
In July, 2001, I experienced some symptoms which prompted me to seek medical attention. The symptoms were indicative of a recurring heart problem which, although now under control, forced me to retire from the post office.
I married in August, 1970. My wife and I have two children, Kristen Renee Phipps, who is a retail store manager with Pilot Travel Centers, and Bradley Scott Sager, who is a unit operator (in-training) for TVA at the Brown’s Ferry Nuclear Power Plant. I have two grandchildren, Baylee Nicole, age 9, and Evan Parker, age 4. I love them dearly!
I am presently single, live with two cats in Madison, Alabama, and am enjoying life… Love to fish, read, write, indulge in my hobbies, play with my grandkids, and socialize with old friends. LIFE IS GOOD! CALL ME. Maybe we can get together for a visit.
