I was raised in Kansas but attended college at Oklahoma A&M on a golf scholarship and entered the AFROTC program. I graduated in May of 1955, was commissioned, married my wife who I met at school, and entered AF pilot training in September of that year. Upon winning my wings, I was assigned to the 506th Strategic Fighter Wing at Tinker AFB, OK, where I flew the F-84F in the 458th SFS. When LeMay's strategic fighter wings were disbanded in 1958, my wing was transferred to TAC and I checked out in the F-100. The 458th TFS spent a 6-month tour TDY to Ramstein AB in 1958-59, supporting USAFE in their nuclear mission during the Cold War. When the 506th was disbanded, I went to Luke AFB as an IP in the 4511th CCTS.

My next assignment was in 1961 to the 50th TFW (10th TFS) at Hahn AB, Germany. Again the primary mission of the 50th was sitting nuclear alert, but when the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, we took on a day-alert posture with air-to-air missiles to guard the corridors into Berlin. After Hahn, I spent the next 4 years as an AFROTC instructor at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While at Coe, I was selected for an assignment to AFIT at Wright Patterson AFB, and I graduated from AFIT in June of 1971 with a masters in Ops Research. After a tour in Vietnam at 7th AF HQ, I had assignments to the Tactical Air Warfare Center at Eglin AFB and to PACAF HQ at Hickam AFB, and I retired from the Air Force in December 1979.

After retirement I remained in Hawaii and was hired by Ling Temco Vought (LTV) where I worked under contract to Commander Third Fleet on Ford Island. Much of my work at COMTHIRDFLT was in developing tactics for the Navy's F-14 fighters, an unusual job for an Air Force pilot - telling the Navy how to handle their fighters. My job with LTV moved me to Arlington, Texas, where I conducted analysis of weapons systems. My division of LTV was eventually purchased by Lockheed Martin (LM), and I retired in 1999 after 20 years with LM.

While in Arlington, I worked as a volunteer at the Arlington Visitors' Center and as a marshal at a city golf course. In the latter job, I got paid, could have all the balls I found, and could play the course free any time I desired. An ideal job for a retired fighter pilot! We moved to Air Force Village West in Riverside, CA, in 2006, where we now reside.