Nice, Eclipse Aviation wanted me to move there but I decided I did not want to uproot my family. When they went bankrupt I knew I'd made the right decision.
Career-wise, you probably did. But Albuquerque is pretty sweet. I can mow my lawn in the morning and go skiing 30 minutes later. The fishing is great, and the mountain biking/hiking is even better. You can be in the desert one day and the mountains the next. NM basically rules!
What unit were you with? I have a buddy that flew a little bird there in 2003Mosul 2003. Initial ground run after heavy maintenance. It's a scan of a disposable print photo.
Right on, he was in the 160th, did you guys ever work with them?
Those guys do their own thing as missions are quite different; so, didn't work with those guys. The 101st and the 160th are on the same airfield at Campbell. In my early years prior to flying, I rode around in the back of Black Hawks. 1987-89 I was a Hooter Bros (D Co, 160th Spec Ops Avn Grp) crewchief. Really enjoyed that, but I needed to keep going career wise.
Yeah I kinda figured it was a long shot. Ironically I don't know much about the aviation side of the Army even though that was my initial goal in life...all I knew is that I wanted to fly as a warrant officer in the 160th so I wouldn't get promoted out of my bird. I had a lot of friends and family in SF and figured that would be the best way to help them get back home. Apparently getting too many speeding tickets when you're a teen means they won't trust you with expensive helis...they were probably right but that's irrelevant LOL
Hell, I was lucky to get in the USAF, I was "1 ticket" away from not being allowed to ship out to basic... What did I do... yep, I got 3 violations in one stop. Thankfully, I was on a first name basis with the assistant DA at that point. I asked him if he wanted me to remain in Colorado Springs or ship out to Texas. He talked to the judge and came back with all the charges dismissed.... I shipped out. I also had to file an SR-22 and was damn near broke by insurance costs for the next 2 years.
Pre-enlistment, oh the memories, LOL. I was talking to both the Air Force and Navy recruiters after taking the ASVAB test. The Navy recruiter wanted me to go into submarines, so I said to the Air Force recruiter, where do I sign? No underwater tubes for me, thank you, besides, aviation was my first love, I dropped out of A&P school to join.
Ha, lucky...nobody gave a damn about my situation. I hired a lawyer to see if I could get them expunged or dismissed, the recruitment officer called them up, even a one star called on my behalf, no dice. I was offered a few decent alternatives as a consolation prize but everything I wanted required the security clearance I couldn't get.
