Harold Adams:
CLASS OF 1961
Bloom High SchoolClass of 1961
Chicago heights, IL
University of Illinois - Computer Science Class of 1971
Urbana, IL
University of Illinois - Aerospace EngineeringClass of 1966
Urbana, IL
Harold's Story
Here's an abbreviated summary of my 50 years since high school:
61-66 BS in Aerospace Engineering - Univ of Illinois Urbana
After graduation, while waiting to report to the Air Force, I traveled all around Europe by backpack for three months. I met my first wife in Slovenia and married her later in 1967.
I spent 21 years in the Air Force, retiring as a Major.
66-69 AF Space Systems - ICBM warhead development - Norton AFB, CA
69-71 MS in Computer Science - Univ of Illinois Urbana
71-74 AF Space Systems - Missile warning development- Eglin AFB, FL
74-75 AF Space Systems - Missile warning operations - Clear, Alaska
75-78 DoD Communications development - Ft. Monmouth, NJ
78-80 AF Communications operational testing - Kirtland AFB, NM
80-87 DoD Communications operational testing - Ft. Huachuca, AZ
During the last 12 years of my Air Force experience, I traveled extensively to Iceland, Korea, and Europe. The trips to Iceland were in support of the Reagan/Gorbechev Summit in 1986. The period also included two kids, a divorce in 1978, followed by a 2 year break as a single before meeting my second wife.
After retirement, I continued as a contractor for the Army:
87-95 Army Communications development - Ft. Huachuca, AZ
(I worked at the same job, same desk, but for 7 different companies!) Traveled to Saudi Arabia (the Gulf War), Kuwait, UAE(Abu Dhabi/Dubai), Panama
95-98 Army Intelligence training - Ft. Huachuca, AZ
Two more kids, second divorce, second (longer 5 year) break period.
98-02 Army UAV Intelligence simulation - Redstone Arsenal, AL
02-03 Army Intelligence - Biometrics development - Ft. Huachuca, AZ
Traveled to Ft. Campbell, Ft. Lewis, Ft. Gordon, Ft. Bragg, Ft. Knox, Ft. Stewart, Ft. Hood, Ft. Bliss, Germany, Korea, Iraq (Camp Victory and Abu Ghraib), Afghanistan (Kandahar and Bagram), Qatar, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, where I met my third and last wife!
03- Army Intelligence School - War gaming/training - Ft. Huachuca, AZ
Since 03 I've been with Northrop Grumman with virtually NO business travel! I'm now involved in the training of Army officers and NCOs in intelligence analysis using UAVs like the Predator.
In 2005 I married Natalia, a Russian woman I had met in Khabarovsk, Russia in the Far Ea...Expand for more
st. She came with a daughter, now 25, who becomes child number 5. And, we are currently in the process of adopting an abandoned one-year old Russian baby, Victoria, who will become child number 6.
On my several trips to Russia, I've been blessed to have visited Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, and a small northern fishing village, Nicholaevsk na Amur. I also got to take the Trans-Siberian Railroad on a 4 day trip from Vladivostok to Irkutsk. The full 7-day trip, all the way from the Pacific coast to Moscow, has always been on my wish list of things to do. It may now be possible. When I travel back to Russia in September to bring Natalia and Victoria back, we have to return through Moscow for the immigration paperwork. So, the 3 of us plan to rail across Russia to Moscow.
I've been blessed to experience several other things on my "bucket list", including sailing on a 4-masted tall ship (the Russian Navy seamanship training ship "Nadezhda"), 8 days of rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, and separately hiking from the canyon rim to the floor and back. Also, riding the Eurostar chunnel train from London to Paris, riding a Hovercraft across the English channel, riding the modern Orient Express across Europe, riding the French TGV 200+mph bullet trains, and the ultimate ride of a lifetime - on the Air France Concorde from New York to Paris and back. (I used frequent flyer miles!).
Another memorable experience was a flight in the last flyable B-24 bomber. My dad flew the plane in WW II. And, finally, several times in Germany, I was able to push my BMW (legally) up past 140 MPH on the autobahns.
Now, as I approach retirement, it's nice to have all those 5(6) kids, their spouses, and 9 grandkids within an hour or so. As you can imagine, our holiday celebrations are HUGE.
UPDATE: Natalia spent almost the entire year of 2010 in Russia, completing the adoption of Victoria. In December, I flew across the Pacific to Khabarovsk where I joined them for the trip across Russia to Moscow for Embassy processing of Victoria's US visa. Sadly, we didn't have enough time for the 7 day Trans-Siberian experience - we wanted to get home before Christmas. We quickly left Moscow, flying across the Atlantic back to Arizona.
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