Airborne Command Post Aircraft Mission

I was raised in farm country in Scott County in Central
Illinois. For most of the early years, I lived and worked
on a dairy farm.
 

After high school, I attended University of Illinois for
four years, did not graduate, and then enlisted in the Air
Force. After a year, the Air Force sent me to Ohio State
University in an officer commissioning program. Upon
graduation from Ohio State, I was commissioned as a second
lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and began a short stint as
an Accounting and Finance Officer.
 

After two years, I transferred to a nuclear missile wing
and became a Minuteman Missile launch officer. I remained
in the nuclear business in some manner until I retired from
the Air Force in 1983. Except for a one year isolated tour
as a nuclear weapon custodian in remote Turkey, all of my
assignments were in the United States.
 

In 1971, I began a series of jobs related to the Strategic
Air Command Airborne Command Post (SAC ABNCP). First, I
became a Missile Combat Crew Commander-Airborne (MCCC-A) on
EC-135 aircraft assigned to Ellsworth AFB, SD. I later
became a Chief, Airborne Battle Staff on the West Auxiliary
Command Post (WAUXCP). The WAUXCP was a back-up SAC ABNCP
and I regularly flew scheduled SAC ABNCP Missions.
 

I transferred to Offutt AFB, NE to become a Chief, Airborne
Battle Staff on the SAC ABNCP. After the short tour to
Turkey, I returned to Offutt AFB as the Hq SAC staff
officer responsible for managing and budgeting for all of
SAC's EC-135s. On both the WAUXCP and the SAC ABNCP, I was
fully qualified and certified as a MCCC-A.

While in the Air Force, I graduated from the Air Force
Squadron Officer School, the Air Force Command and Staff
College, the Army Command and Staff College, and received a
University of Missouri MBA.
 

After the Air Force, I went to Creighton Law School and
graduated in 1986. I entered the civilian world and worked
as a criminal defense attorney, a county prosecutor, a
federal tax attorney and a bankruptcy attorney. I fully
retired in 2010.
 

I am married to Linda, the girl next door in Illinois. Linda
and I had two girls. Linda graduated from Bellevue
University with a BA in Business. Linda worked in several
federal civil service positions, many of which involved Top
Secret, “black world,” projects. She retired in 2002.
Both Linda and I are former Rotarians.