My Air Force Life
   by Steven L

I hesitate to even begin to put down in words how wonderful the Air Force has been to me and my family, and all it has to offer, because I worry, once word gets out, there will be a stampede of people rushing to the recruiters to sign up for duty. It began for me in the mid 1970’s in Northern Michigan. I was fresh out of high school, newly married with a family to support, jobs were far and few between, and college was not an option at the time. I felt trapped with nowhere to go until I met with an Air Force recruiter. Even though my dad and brothers all served in the Navy, my love of aviation was the deciding factor to join the Air Force. My first ten years of enlistment included working avionics on Bombers and Tankers, I cross-trained into Air Traffic Control (ATC) and was “Wurtsmith Air Force Base’s” Approach Controller during the ATC strike in the early 80’s, then earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan thanks to the Airman's Engineering Commissioning Program! After my commission, I worked as an engineer in the Air Force Labs and then program manager on the F-15, F-16, F-22, and the X-30 Aerospace Plane program. If I were to pick one word to describe all that the Air Force has to offer, that word would be “Opportunity”! The opportunity for employment, education, camraderie, health care, life insurance, travel, retirement, and above all else, the opportunity to serve this great Nation. I consider myself very fortunate for the great opportunity I've had to serve my country as an “Airman” in the greatest Air Force in the entire world! The Air Force is my life!