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September Retiree's Corner

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Bob Barkalow (retired)
  • 169th Fighter Wing

This will be my ninth Desert Storm article honoring the Desert Shield/Storm call-ups, and the sixth of ten articles honoring the 169th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (CAMS). I have expanded more key personnel listings, and my goal is to name and honor as many people as I possibly can in this article and subsequent articles.

This month’s article we are honoring the next group of 47 individuals who were deployed during the Desert Shield/Storm call-up. Their rank is what they were at the time of deployment and any other pertinent information I have about them plus their rank when they were retired, were discharged, or passed away. They are as follows:

-Airman 1st Class Thomas S. Lucas retired in 2013 as a Master Sgt. Other than that, I have no other information on him.

-Sgt. Robert G. Lake. I have no information on him.

-Staff Sgt. Roy I. Luke was discharged in 1991.

-Tech. Sgt. George M. Machado retired in 1992 as a Master Sgt. He passed away in 1996 and his name is on our SCANG monument.

-Chief Master Sgt. Thomas A. Marshall retired in 1999. He was the head weapons loader and NCOIC of the munitions branch. He is still living.

-Tech. Sgt. George M. Martin, Jr., retired in 1999 as a Master Sgt. He passed away in 2008 and his name is on our SCANG monument.

-Sgt. Robert A. Mason transferred to the MO ANG after the deployment.

-Staff Sgt. Stephen L. Mason, Jr. is still an active member. He was a munitions guy and later quality control.

-Sgt. Michael E. Matthews retired in 2015 as a Master Sgt. He was also a Federal Military Technician and he is still living.

-Airman 1st Class Allen M. Mattox retired in 2013 as a Lt. Col. After the deployment he was commissioned and became one of our pilots. His call sign was “Auto.”

-Master Sgt. Albert L. Maw retired in 1997 as a Master Sgt. He is still living. I see him occasionally at our luncheons. He was lead crew chief on Plane #299 during Desert Storm.

-Airman Durham L. Maxwell was discharged in 1994.

-Master Sgt. Joseph A. “Bud” Maye retired in 1993 as a Master Sgt. He passed away January 4, 2018. His name is on our SCANG monument. He was from the Tabor City, N.C. area.       

-Airman 1st Class James B. Maynard transferred to the ARPC (Air Reserves Personnel Center) in 1991.

-Tech. Sgt. Robert L. Mays retired in 2005 as a Chief Master Sgt. He also was a munitions guy most of his career. Still living as far as we know.

-Sgt. Carlton J. McAllister transferred to the AZ ANG in 1995.

-Tech. Sgt. Artis A. McCabe, Jr., (Mac) retired in 2002 as a Senior Master Sgt. For a while he was NCOIC of munitions and he is still living.

-Master Sgt. John D. McCarter, Jr. retired in 2007 as a Chief Master Sgt. I see him around LR occasionally.

-Master Sgt. Matthew McClam retired in 2008 as a Senior Master Sgt. He was NCOIC of the AGE shop. I believe he hails from the Lake City area and is still living.

-Airman 1st Class Kevin I. McCollough transferred to the U.S. Army in 1995.

-Sgt. Norman C. McDaniel was discharged in 1994.

-Airman Paul D. McFadden. I have no information on him at all.

-Sgt. Darren H. McIver was discharged in 1993.

-Sgt. Kenyon B. McKenzie was discharged in 1995.

-Tech. Sgt. Gerard C. McKervey retired in 1993 as a Master Sgt. He also was the lead crew chief for plane #322. He passed away in 2008 and his name is on our SCANG monument.

-Master Sgt. Donald R. McManus retired in 2005 as a Chief Master Sgt. He has been a help to me with some Desert Storm information.

-Staff Sgt. Eddie E. McManus. At this time I have no information about him.

-Airman 1st Class Johnny R. McPhail was discharged in 1997.

-Sgt. Thomas E. McQueen, Jr. At this time I have no information about him.

-Staff Sgt. Allredo A. Medlin, Jr. At this time I have no information about him.

-Staff Sgt. Steve C. Meisner retired in 2014 as a Master Sgt. and is still living.

-Tech. Sgt. Jesse Melton, Jr. retired in 1996. I’m not sure about his rank at retirement and we don’t know if he is still living.   

-Tech. Sgt. Robert D. Miles he retired in 2001 as a Master Sgt. and is still living.

-Sgt. Tracy A. Miles transferred to the ARPC in 1992.

-Sgt. Jon C. Miller was discharged in 1993.

-Tech. Sgt. Roger Pat Miller retired in 2000 as a Senior Master Sgt. He is still living. I used to see him at Oak Hills Golf Course when I played there a lot. He was lead crew chief on plane #290 during the deployment.

-Sgt. Robert E. Minder was discharged with a disability in 2004. He worked with CE sometime later.

-Airman 1st Class Robert M. Mitchell retired in 2010 as a Senior Master Sgt. Other than that I have no other information on him.

-Staff Sgt. Ray B. Mixon, Jr. retired in 2007 as a Master Sgt. He is still living.

-Tech. Sgt. Hattie R. Monson retired in 1996 as a Master Sgt. She is still living. I heard she was in the Beaufort area. She was lead crew chief for plane #306 during the deployment.

-Staff Sgt. Mark A. Mooney was discharged in 1991.

-Airman Jason K. Moore was discharged in 1997.

-Staff Sgt. Devin B. Morgan was discharged in 1992.

-Staff Sgt. Richard L. Morgan retired in 2017 as a Master Sgt. As far as we know he is still living.

-Master Sgt. Thomas H. Muller retired in 2003 as a Chief Master Sgt. I believe he was one of the safety NCOs. He is still living.

-Airman 1st Class Bruce E. Munck was discharged in 1998.

-Tech. Sgt. James R. Murphy retired in 1997 as a Tech. Sgt. He is still living. I occasionally used to see him at some of our luncheons.   

Statistics for this article: We have 24 people out of the 47 honored to retire as active members. There is one that is still an active member, who is about ready to retire. The others were either discharged, transferred, or unknown circumstances. The known 24 people to retire represents 51 percent featured in this article. The breakdown of the 24 Retirees in this article by rank are one Lt. Col., five Chief Master Sgts., four Senior Master Sgts., 12 Master Sgts., and two Tech. Sgts. The running total of the 427 folks honored thus far for deploying to Desert Storm, 288 have become Retirees, which represents 67.4 percent of these deployed folks becoming Retirees thus far. The breakdown by retired rank is as follows: two Maj. Gens., four Brig. Gens., 13 Cols., 15 Lt. Cols., eight Majs., 47 Chief Master Sgts., 48 Senior Master Sgts., 102 Master Sgts., 41 Tech. Sgts., seven Staff Sgts., and one Senior Airman for a total of 288 known Retired Members to date.

The top and key personnel based on several after action reports and listings that I was privileged to get from several sources.  They are as follows:

Deputy Commander for Maintenance: Lt. Col. Edwin W. Fisher

Commander: Maj. Charles E. Savage

First Sergeant: Chief Master Sgt. Jerry C. Couch

Organizational Maintenance: Maj. Russell A. Rushe, OIC and Chief Master Sgt. John T. Bowie, NCOIC

Administration Branch: Maj. John V. Harsey, OIC and Senior Master Sgt. Samuel H. Ezzell, NCOIC

Munitions Branch: Capt. David S. Cregger, OIC and Chief Master Sgt. Thomas A. Marshall, NCOIC

Field Maintenance: 1st Lt. Leroy Williams, OIC and Chief Master Sgt. Leo A. Chapmon, NCOIC

Avionics Maintenance: Chief Master Sgt. Joseph F. Kopak, NCOIC

Plans & Scheduling: Senior Master Sgt. Robert E. Berry, NCOIC

Quality Control: Chief Master Sgt. William D. Cliett, NCOIC (although he wasn’t deployed)

Management Analysis: Master Sgt. Charles E. Couch, NCOIC

Programs & Mobility: Master Sgt. Jackie P. Lemacks, NCOIC

Training Management: Master Sgt. Corel C. Sweat, NCOIC

Flight & Lead Crew Chiefs:

A Flight: Senior Master Sgt. Vitalis G. Viavoda

Aircraft 288: Staff Sgt. James R. Long

      “        290: Tech. Sgt. Pat Miller

      “        291: Tech. Sgt. Danny Ward

      “        292: Tech. Sgt. William B. Mustard

      “        293: Master Sgt. Charles E. Dickson

      “        294: Tech. Sgt. Wallace Barry Ward

      “        295: Tech. Sgt. William H. Dimsdale, Jr.

      “        532: Staff Sgt. Kenneth E. Fowler

B Flight: Senior Master Sgt. Eugene Tucker

Aircraft 296: Tech. Sgt. Michael D. Brazell

       “      297:  Master Sgt. James P. Christopher, Jr.

       “      299:  Master Sgt. Albert L. Maw

       “      302:  Tech. Sgt. Albert L. Atkins

       “      304:  Master Sgt. Frederick S. Deshong

       “      305: Tech. Sgt. Dennis D. Burton

       “      306: Tech. Sgt. Hattie R. Monson

       “      308: Staff Sgt. Claude A. Shealy, Jr.

       “      312: Tech. Sgt. James A. Taylor

       “      314: Tech. Sgt. William D. Delavan, Jr.

C Flight: Master Sgt. Julian C. Tanner

Aircraft 317: Tech. Sgt. Steven L. Tanner

       “      319: Tech. Sgt. William L. Allen

       “      320: Tech. Sgt. James D. Turner

       “      321: Master Sgt. Archie S. Thorpe, Jr.

       “      322: Tech. Sgt. Gerard C. McKervey

       “      325: Tech. Sgt. Phillip H. Chandler

I want to further elaborate with some statistical evidence what all the 169th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (CAMS) did and comparisons with the other squadrons located at Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia during the period of Combat Operations of 17 January to 27 February 1991.

First of all, the 157th TFS flew 1,359 sorties during this time frame amounting to 2786.7 hours flown which is an average of just over two hours per sortie. There were 92 weather cancellations and 30 maintenance cancellations which is a very low number. The 169th average FMC Rate (Fully Mission Capable) rate was 87.1 percent. The standard and average for active Air Force units was 80 percent.

The 157th TFS (McEntire) flying the F-16A aircraft had a Fully Mission Capable Rate of 87.1 percent.  McEntire flew 1,359 Sorties amounting to 2,786.7 hours flown and expending 3,958,884 munitions.

The 174th TFS (Syracuse) flying the F-16A aircraft had a FMC Rate of 81.8 percent.  Syracuse flew 1,050 Sorties amounting to 2,278.0 hour flown and expending 3,014,682 munitions.

The 335th TFS (Seymour-Johnson) flying the F-15E aircraft had a FMC Rate of 82.4 percent. The 335th flew 1,097 Sorties amounting to 4084.0 hours flown and expending 4,856,700 munitions.

The 336th TFS (Seymour-Johnson) flying the F-15E aircraft had a FMC Rate of 86.4 percent. The 336th flew 1,088 Sorties, amounting to 3,275.7 hours flown, and expending 6,413,920 munitions.

The 53rd TFS (Bitburg) flying the F-15C aircraft had a FMC Rate of 77.8 percent. The 53rd flow 1,246 Sorties amounting to 7,365.8 hours flown. The 53rd was strictly an Air Defense Mission.                

By looking at the above numbers and comparing what all the Swamp Fox pilots, and 169th  CAMS “Goatherders” speaks volumes. Basically the F-15Es flew night missions and the F-16’s flew day time missions. The Strike Eagles could carry more munitions than the F-16s and they went deeper into Iraq all part of the overall air plan. There was one F-15 Strike Eagle crew that would come in the 240th Operations tent and have coffee and snacks to wind down around midnight then they would show us where all they had been and what they encountered at times including SAM missiles. Lt. Col. Bob Ruth, and I can’t remember his back seater’s name another Lt. Col. would come in and regale their experiences.

For the past two articles I added up all the different tail numbers as to how many ‘notations’ were made about them in the daily logs for the duration of Combat Operations. I did it by flights, already did A and B Flights, this time the C Flight. This really has no maintenance relevance, just a statistical note since there were very few names mentioned in the daily logs or mission logs other than as to who the Lead Pilot was on each mission. The notations would include an abort, a spare plane, and a variety of maintenance issues, minor and sometimes major. The C Flight lead crew chief, Julian Tanner, I saw and talked to he and his wife, Nora, at Gene Couch’s visitation August 13th. Also talked to Jerry Couch, Jimmy Young and Marty Gladden.

C Flight:

Aircraft #317 – 26 Notations. Steve Tanner was this plane’s lead crew chief. I understand he is home rehabilitating but he still has a long way to go. Steve and Beth live in Neeses, S.C.

Aircraft #319 – 12 Notations

Aircraft #320 – 5 Notations

Aircraft #321 – 18 Notations

Aircraft #322 – 12 Notations

Aircraft #325 – 14 Notations

Aircraft #532 – 7 Notations

Other deployments or significant happenings during the month of September:

1980 – First deployment to Orland Air Station, Norway (Coronet Aim), 169th Tactical Fighter Group

1980 – First deployment to Murted Air Base, Turkey as part of the Rapid Deployment Force (Display Determination), 240th Combat Communications Squadron

1981 – First deployment to Andravida, Greece as part of the Rapid Deployment Force, 240th Combat Communications Squadron

Next month I plan to give you facts and figures on each plane and how many sorties and hours flown. As mentioned before 18 of our 24 planes had to do a Phase Dock Inspection while at Al Kharj which is required every 700 hours of flight. This was on top of the many major and minor repairs that had to done as immediate as possible to keep up with the required 36 planes per day for missions.   

Our next Luncheon will be the day after Labor Day, September 7th.  It will be at the Fort Jackson NCO Club beginning at Noon. We plan to have a very dynamic and inspiring speaker, Doctor (Gen.) Jim Chow (Nevus) will take time from his busy schedule to tell about both he and his family and their trek to get to America, when he was a young man coming to America he could not speak English. It is an amazing and riveting story to listen to and what all he has accomplished, including becoming a flight surgeon for the SCANG and what all he is still accomplishing. In this day and time, it is inspiring to hear stories such as this. 

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