30 years ago today – April 4, 1977 – I enlisted in the USAF and was on my way to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas for the next 6 weeks. After Basic Training I would be off to Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado for technical training to be a Precision Measurement Equipment Specialist.
If I would have stayed in for the full 30 – I would be retired today. But when it was time to re-enlisted I weighed the options, my now ex had 10 years in – he was half way to retirement after 20 years. I ran the risk of being station in one place, with my ex being stationed in another and neither of us being allowed to have our daughter with us. With that in mind I opted to not re-enlist. In hindsight – he still never was really anyplace I was at with the girls but at least the girls were always with me.
I also told myself that I could make more money on the outside as a government contractor – which I did wind up doing. If I stayed in I probably would have become a PMEL Superintendent for a lab that hadn’t been converted or perhaps gone back an taught at the tech school. I had been asked if I wanted to remain at Lowry as an instructor but I explained that I just didn’t I could teach a subject that I had no practical experience in – I needed bench time first.
That was then … this is now.
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