Page updated 10/16/99

U. S. Air Force

I started my career in the Air Force at 18. I knew I wanted to join the military when I was a high school sophomore. After talking with various recruiters, I decided to join the Air Force.

I went to Basic at Lackland AFB, Texas. After 6 weeks there, I was off to the Presidio of Monterey for language training. I knew I was going to be a Linguist before basic, so I knew what job I was getting, but not what language.

While at Basic, I took a test to determine what language I would be learning. I got Spanish. Language school was a lot of fun. We were taught by native speakers. 3 of my instructors were from Spain, one from Argentina, and one from Ecuador. You live your language while you're here. Eventually you start dreaming in it. Monterey is an awesome place. I was there for 6 months. Tried to see as many places as I could, but it's not so easy without a car. Spent most of my weekends at the mall or the beach.

After language school, I went to Goodfellow AFB, Texas. Here, I learned the cryptology and analysis part of my job. After Monterey, this place was pretty boring. It is located near San Angelo, but it seems like the middle of nowhere. Because school was held during the day and night, I didn't do too much exploring, I was only there for 3 months anyway.

My first duty assignment was at the National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Maryland. Ft. Meade is halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., so there are many things to do and see. My job was fun, although classified, so I can't go into too much detail. I love Washington, D.C. I visited all of the Smithsonian Museums and most of the monuments. The only place I didn't see was the White House.

While at Ft. Meade, I got the opportunity to go on a temporary duty assignment to Virginia for the Defense Intelligence Agency. Here, I declassifed documents from the Vietnam War. I was born in 1971, so Vietnam is only a history book to me. My dad was there, but never talked about it. Declassifying these documents gave me a history lesson no book or memories could have given. My opinion of this conflict changed drastically during this assignment. I had visited the Vietnam Wall in D.C. several times before, but it did not effect me emotionally until after this assignment.

After 5 years as a linguist, I was getting close to reenlistment time, so I chose to change jobs. I cross-trained into Public Affairs. I went to the Defense Information School for training. It used to be at Ft. Harrison but has since moved to Ft. Meade. Public Affairs is an awesome job, especially if you like working with the public. I got lucky and in my honest opinion, got the best assignment of all.

I got assigned to Andrews AFB, Maryland. I moved all of 24 miles, but now, I was working the Presidential mission. For 5 years I had been pretty close to Andrews but never went there, because I didn't need to. I didn't even go to the Air Show.

My main job at Andrews was to give tours of the Base. I loved doing this. (It kept me away from my desk twice a week.) I got to meet a lot of very nice people and was able to share the Air Force with Cadets, potential recruits and the general public.

I also worked on the base newspaper. I'll be the first to say I hated writing stories, but taking the pictures and seeing your name in print is pretty cool.

Public Affairs is a job that can get you just about everywhere. Being stationed at Andrews, it gets you up close and personal to many big media events. The Joint Services Open House is one of these. I had the pleasure of escorting a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot for a day, meeting General Chuck Yeager and flying with U.S. Army Golden Knights. (Who said the military can't be fun!!)

So many events happened in the two years I was at Andrews, it's hard to remember them all. Captain Scott O'Grady came home, the soldiers and airmen from the barracks bombing in Saudi Arabia came home, King Hussein of Jordan flew in many times. (He always flew his own plane.) The majority of our time was spent escorting media for Air Force One flights. I have had the pleasure of meeting Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Ann Compton (ABC) and John Malkovich (NBC).

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. My husband was stationed in Germany with the Army and I wasn't going anytime soon. I decided it was time to get out and keep my family together. I miss the military, but I enjoyed every minute of my time in. I have memories that will last forever.

Hope you have enjoyed the memories of my short, although enjoyable, military career. Any questions/comments, please feel free to let me know.

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