Michael DeMaronese:  

Life.... Nothing short of interesting to say the least After high school I decided to take a year off before going to college (not always a good idea). I held a few jobs that seemed interesting at the time and in late October '87 I decided I needed to go on a better path. So, I joined the US Air Force that November and started basic training in March of '88. During my 24 year career I was an Air Traffic Controller. I was first stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB in Upper Michigan. In '95 I moved to my next assignment of Tyndall AFB in the panhandle of Florida. From there, I did a year tour in South Korea from Sep '97 to '98. After Korea I was assigned to Grand Forks AFB, ND (back to Great White North). In July '05 I moved to Italy for the next 4 years with my final assignment of Little Rock AFB, Ar. I retired in 2012 and still work at the AFB as a Range Controller for the C-130s. I have been on temporary duty assignments (TDYs) in Germany, Hungary, Jordan for the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. As for my time in Italy, I arrived in July 2005 and was there 4 years. In April '06 I rode the motorcycle down to Imola for the San Marino Formula 1 Grand Prix and I could not be more excited. To witness these cars perform was nothing short of incredible. During July-August of '06 I went to Slovakia for short TDY that was also a great experience. The trip through northern Italy and SE Austria was simply stunning....Expand for more