In December 1986, missing the comradely, I felt the need to return to military service. To feed this desire, I enlisted in to the U.S. Air Force Reserve at Scott AFB, Illinois as a Combat Arms Training and Maintenance Specialist/Instructor or CATM, assigned to the 932 AAG (later transitioned to the 932 AW).

Our "shop" of 5 instructors trained well over 500 Reserve personnel in the use and care of small arms, namely the Colt M16 Rifle, S&W Model 15 Revolver (later the Berretta M9 Pistol), M60 Machine Gun, Remington 870 Shotgun, Uzi Sub Machine Gun, and the M203 Grenade Launcher.

I returned to Lackland AFB, Texas during the summer of 1987 to attend formal CATM Training. During this 8 week course, in addition to developing proficiency in the various weapons, we received instruction on how to conduct formal classroom training.

During the late summer of 1990 through the January 1991 we trained our personnel for deployment and prepared them for the first Gulf War, also known as Desert Shield - Desert Storm. More than 300 personnel from the various units within the group were deployed. Even though I was not formally recalled to Active Duty, I performed numerous man-days preparing our troops.

In October 1991 I was promoted to E-6 Technical Sergeant - Non-Commissioned Officer In-Charge of the CATM Section. I also did a brief tour at Warner Robbins AFB as the Interim Manager of the USAFR CATM Program.

 

From 1991 to 1994 I had the additional duties as a Leadership Development Program Instructor/Facilitator. In this program I traveled to other bases to provide instruction to Mid-level NCO’s on how to be an effective supervisor, provide quality verbal and written communication, and operational group dynamics.

In 1992 I was promoted to Master Sergeant and assumed the duties of First Sergeant for the 13th USAF Contingency Hospital. In this role I reported directly to the unit commander on matters of enlisted morale, welfare, and conduct, and was the chief enlisted advisor to the commander on all of these issues. I remained in this position until 1994. 


My military decorations and awards from my Active and Reserve Duty include:

U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal
U.S. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
U.S. Air Force Good Conduct Medal
U.S. Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal
U.S. National Defense Service Medal
U.S. Korean Defense Service Medal
U.S. Air Force Overseas Ribbon
U.S. Air Force Longevity Award
U.S. Air Force Armed Forces Reserve Medal
U.S. Air Force NCO PME Graduate Ribbon
U.S. Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
U.S. Air Force Training Ribbon

Honor Graduate - USAF Patrol Dog Handler Course,
USAF Below-the-Zone Promotion - E3 to E4,
Recipient of numerous Letters of Appreciation and Certificates of Achievement.