Jerald Sharp:  

Life I enlisted in the U.S. Army's Delayed Enlistment program in April of 1976. Had a blast the summer after graduation by traveling around the country visiting relatives. Helped my family move to Tucson, Arizona (my Dad, Charlie's choice for retirement after twenty-eight years in the Army). Went on active duty in the U.S. Army's Air Defense branch on the twenty-fourth of August of '76. Spent the next eleven years in the military occupational specialty (M.O.S.) 16R Short Range Air Defense Crewman. Served two tours of three years each with the 1st Armored Division in Schwabach, Germany (Furth/Nurnburg area), Jan.'77 to April '80, and April '82 to April '85 Had a short stint as an Army recruiter in Glendale, AZ. (Phoenix metro area) in 1980, an Army service school instructor (M.O.S. 16R) in Ft. Bliss, Texas (El Paso)in 1981. Finished my career in the Army at Ft. Bliss, Texas in November of 1987. I was an E-6, Staff Sergeant at the time, where all promotion possibilities in my job specialty of air defense were frozen indefinitely due to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Budget Reconciliation Omnibus Act. Worked briefly at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, AZ., in 1988, as a security officer. Spent the following year as a federal corrections officer in Phoenix, AZ. By an invitation from my dad, Corrections Lieutenant Charlie Sharp Jr., I worked as a corrections officer at the Pima County Jail in Tucson, AZ., from November of '89 to February of 2000. On a whim, I then went to truck driving school, got my CDL, and drove long haul for a year and half. Did team runs, coast to coast. Stayed away from my home in Tucson for three to four weeks at a time, with two or three days off between. Well, the romance of the open road wasn't enough for me to continue with that lifestyle. By accident, I found out about, then hired on with, the Transportation Security Administration's passenger screening force at the Tucson International Airport last summer (2002). We're under the U.S. Dept. of Transportation for certain admin stuff, but it's the Dept. of Homeland Security that has jurisdiction of our agency. Love it so far. Making the same money that I did driving over the road. Better yet, I get to sleep in a bed that doesn't shake, rattle, and roll for weeks on end, etc. As for my family, a few things have changed since the last time that you saw me. My Mom, Kathleen passed away on December 8, 1985, from a diabetes-related stroke. My Dad, Charlie lost a hard fought battle with lung cancer when he died from a heart attack in August of 1999. My brother, Ken, single, lives with me. My sister Brenda,single w/no kids, runs a service deli at one of the local food stores. My baby sister, Sandy, just turned f...Expand for more