The "In-Between"

I guess I will deviate slightly from the posting of memories to quickly catch you all up on my "In-Between." I was not the sharpest tack on the wall at OLPH (see evidence at left) but I think some of that had to do with my rough childhood. Things settled down after my parents divorced and our large family enjoyed some normalcy at that point. After OLPH I attended Riordan High for three years (1969-1972). Unfortunately, my hard working mother couldn't afford the tuition for the last year as she was caring for all seven of us. So I graduated from Jefferson High in 1973.

From the summer of 1973 to the fall of 1974 I did a little bit of college at Skyline Community and a lot of work as slave labor (well, practically) for a small construction company. In November of 1974 I joined the Air Force. I enlisted as a general enlistee with no specific job but my high school grades and entrance scores put me in the top percentile of enlistees. I was chosen to go to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey California to be taught Chinese Mandarin. For the next 24 years I worked for Air Force intelligence and reconnaissance programs. In April of 1976 I went overseas to my first assignment, Okinawa, Japan. This was a flying assignment where I worked as aircrew on an RC-135, a military version of the Boeing 707.

The group picture upper left is a crew from one RC-135. We could squeeze about 25 people on those planes in and around all the equipment. Of course, when the mission was done it was definitely time for a cold one.


I left Okinawa the first time in late 1977 and went directly to Korea. It was here that I met my wife to be. We actually married two years later in 1979. The picture on the left is her in 1978. I left Korea in the Fall of 1978 and came back to Monterey for an Intermediate Chinese course and then went straight back to Okinawa to fly some more. When I arrived in Okinawa in 1979 I flew to Korea to get married. I stayed in Okinawa till 1983, trying to fit in with the local customs (see picture at right). I then proceeded back to Monterey for an advanced Chinese course, and then went overseas yet again for a two year tour in Korea. Then in 1986 my fortunes were to change a bit as I was assigned to Hawaii. I stayed there for six years straight. In 1992 I went back to Korea for the third and final trip, and then arrived here in San Angelo in 1993 as a language intelligence instructor. I retired here in 1999 and have been here ever since. After retirement I worked for several information technology companies while getting my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science. I am now a Program Manager and Senior Software Engineer for BAE Systems.

Somewhere along the way we had a son, Joseph, who was born in Okinawa in 1980. He will be 28 this Fall. He works locally as a records technician for the San Angelo Police Department. He is single and enjoys living alone.

The picture on the left was taken a few years ago. The picture on the right depicts my son with his mother on the occasion of mom's GED Graduation Ceremony from a local college. We were all very proud of her achievement to get a high school education outside of her native tongue.
I went through this pretty fast because I like the reminiscing better. But I think it's cool to know a little bit about what we have been up to in our "In Between" years.