Richard Peck:  

LIFE BACKGROUND I had very few friends in high school , almost an invisible man. I couldn't wait to graduate and get away from home to re-invent myself. I didn't have a positive image of myself NOR a whole lot of self-confidence because I hadn't accomplished anything of real significance that would make me feel good about myself ...... . I needed to get away from parental control as well , which I think most teenagers desire. But the values that my folks instilled in me while growing up provided a great foundation while I was re-inventing myself Since high school my life has been an exciting journey involving places and jobs that I never would have imagined. I was lucky to graduate from high school with the grades that I had which was more a result of not really knowing what I wanted to do as opposed to ability... not uncommon with many high school kids today. Although my grades weren't the greatest, I am grateful that my parents made me take college prep courses. It's so sad that so many kids go on to college, get a degree that doesn't provide them with a set of marketable employment skills ... and therefore unable to get a good job . Many are left with huge student loans that in many cases are more costly than a moderate home owners loan. I believe it's because THEY THINK THEY KNOW what they want to do after high school but in reality THEY DON'T HAVE A CLUE ... I FELL INTO THIS CATEGORY !! ... Maybe if every high school graduate had to .. (1) attend one of the military services boot camp ( GOOD GRIEF it's only 8 weeks long ... it's NOT AN ETERNITY ) ... and (2) THEN BE GIVEN THE OPTION to complete tour within that service . At the end of a 2 year tour they'd be only 20 years old. Unfortunately many young people DO SEE THAT AS AN ETERNITY. It certainly made a huge difference in my life. That would be money well spent by our government and time well spent by each young adult. Too many of today's young people are being indoctrinated via college professors and social medias with the belief that they are entitled to everything. They need big injections of both the .... HARD WORK ETHIC and PATRIOTISM I believe the best way to achieve that is to re-introduce the draft for every high school graduate ( both men and women ) ... no exceptions and for two years at a minimum ... Their options are limited for only a two year commitment .... but the vast majority of these graduates will still be far better citizens than many of the today's graduates . They could request a particular branch of the Military but based on preliminary testing and the needs of that particular branch will determine if they get that branch. Otherwise they will be assigned to a particular branch by the military recruiter FYI ... Everybody in Switzerland is in the home guard FOR LIFE I had two simple goals that were the driving forces behind everything I have done since graduating from high school ... and they were ... I NEVER WANT TO BE VIEWED AS .... BEING JUST AVERAGE ...and... I NEVER WANT TO BE VIEWED AS ......HAVING NO SELF- CONFIDENCE To me these became very powerful motivators over the years ... After encountering and successfully engaging many of the opportunities that I had originally thought to be impossible, I began to feel really good about myself ... As a result my self-confidence and self-esteem was on the rise .. MY JOURNEY BEGINS! Upon graduating from high school I joined the US NAVY and spent 1 year in their Training Command ( Basic Training in MD and two Naval Air Technical Training Centers in OK and TN ) . I then spent the next 3 years attached to an aircraft carrier based ASW squadron ( Anti-Submarine Warfare ) . We flew Grumman S2F Trackers ( See Photos ) based at the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station , near Disney Land in S.California. Put the following text into the youtube search banner .....and enjoy the video The Strange Airplane Designed for a Very Specific Task Since I was trained as an Aviation Electronics Technician I was able to achieve flight status as an air crewman almost as soon as I joined the squadron. I WAS STILL ONLY EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD ... WOW !! WHAT A BOOST IN CONFIDENCE THAT WAS !!. It also helped to know we would be getting HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY. Everybody who flew ( both pilots and aircrew ) had to attend a week long survival school which consisted of ... (1) ...surviving a trip down the Dilbert Dunker in a simulated cockpit flipping upside down in a swimming pool and then successfully extracting oneself from the seat harness and swimming to the surface ( SEE GALLERY and GOOGLE DILBERT DUNKER ) (2) ...getting thru an Escape and Evasion (E and E ) Course without being captured, (3) ...surviving on the beach with very little food and shelter, and (4) ...being rescued at sea by a helicopter. The E and E course was the more scary You DID NOT want to be captured . If you were and did not survive the interrogations you would lose your aircrew status. Our squadron typically deployed into the Western Pacific ( WESPAC ) for six months at a time as part of a much larger Task Force visiting such places as .... Hawaii ( Pearl Harbor ), Japan ( Yokosuka, Yokohama, Tokyo ,Atsugi ), Okinawa ( Naha , Ft Buckner ), China ( Hong Kong ) Phillipines ( Subic Bay ). It was our job to help protect the entire Task Force from enemy submarine attacks. We were part of a HUK ( Hunter Killer ) Group made up of our squadron's Grumman S2F aircraft, Sikorsky HSS-1 Helicopters with active dipping sonar and numerous surface vessels. In 1958 we deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton CVS-37 (See Gallery) into the Western Pacific and what an adventure that was for a 19 year old ... WOW!! In August 1958 there was major dispute between the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan and Mainland China over the ownership of the islands ( Quemoy and Matsu ) off the coast of Mainland China ( Taiwan Strait Incident ). The Nationalist Chinese had claimed them as their own and established garrisons on both islands much to the dissatisfaction of Mainland China who then began to fire shells at these garrisons. Because the US had a treaty with the Nationalist Chinese they called for our help and we were then placed in Harms Way to protect the shipping lanes between Taiwan and these islands allowing the Nationalist Chinese to continue supplying their garrisons. For 30 days we flew patrols 24/7 .Fortunately we encountered no hostile actions . We stopped in Hawaii ( Pearl Harbor ) twice , going to and returning from WESPAC. I was hooked on my favorite vacation spot. The whole Navy experience gave me the confidence and the focus that I lacked while in high school. NOW I WAS READY FOR SOME HIGHER EDUCATION !!! After my military tour was up I worked in a variety of industries namely.. ...Defense ( Engineering Aide ), ...Printing ( Jr. Design Engineer ), ...Semiconductor ( Test Engineer /Product Marketing Engineer ), ... ...General Aviation ( Flight Instructor ), ...Commuter Airline ( Line Pilot ) and ...for an Internet Service Provider ( Product Marketing Engineer/Product Manager ). In my aviation career as a private pilot, flight instructor and commuter airline pilot I logged over 7,000 hours and was qualified to fly 28 different aircraft ( 18 single engine and 10 multi- engine aircraft ).... See Gallery I have obtained three college degrees which include a BS in Electrical Engineering, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from FDU ( Fairleigh Dickinson U ), all at night and over an eight year period (1960-67 ) . Six years later I returned to college and obtained a BS in Management from Rutgers U. at night over a two and a half year period (1974-77 ) . Each Rutger student's spouse ( husband or wife ) also received a diploma "BACHELOR OF PATIENCE" degree and believe me they earned it !! While attending FDU at night I took flying lessons on the weekends and obtained (10) FAA pilot licenses , ratings and instructor certificates, all while working full-time . They were ... (a) Private and Commercial ......................... Pilot licenses, (b) Instrument and Multi-Engine .............. Pilot Ratings, (c) Airplane, Instrument ,Multi-Engine ... Flight Instructor Certificates, (d) Private, Commercial ,Instrument ....... Ground Instructor Certificates . Later on I obtained a Computer Network Engineering Certification. To this day I do not know how I ever a...Expand for more