Steve Fritz:  

to college at Troy State University in Alabama on a George C. Wallace leadership scholarship. I'm not exactly proud of the sponsor of the scholarship but beggars can't be choosers. While attending Troy State I enlisted in the local Army National Guard and went to Basic Training in Fort Sill Oklahoma. I wasn't very impressed with all the snakes, scorpions, and huge tarantella spiders running around. I dropped out of school after my sophomore year and moved to Massachusetts and got a job splitting cord wood. After doing that for half a year I thought it was best I get my butt back to school so I got accepted to UMass Amherst. For some odd reason, I enjoyed my military experience with the National Guard so I enrolled in the Army ROTC at UMass and when I graduated with a degree in Journalism in 1985 I also got a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Aviation Branch of the Army. Workplace My favorite job was valet parking cars at Joe Sonkins on A1A just off of the Hollywood Beach Blvd bridge with Ben, Joel, Jimmy, and Mike. Military After graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1985 and getting a commission from the ROTC, I went to the Officer Basic Course and Flight School at Fort Rucker Alabama (about 30 miles from Troy State University where I attended college my Freshmen and Sophomore years). I completed my training after a year and was assigned to the 55th Combat Aviation Company near Souel South Korea. When it came to flying, it was one of the best assignments a young Lieutenant could ask for. I started out as section leader, and then got a detachment command at Camp Red Cloud where I supported a Three Star General and his staff with a three helicopters. Later, I was assigned as the company executive officer until I went back to Fort Rucker for the Officer Advance Course. While in Korea, I met my first wife who was also in the military and we were married at Fort Rucker. After the Advance Course, I accepted an assignment near Frankfurt Germany in 1988. While I was there, I witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was one of the first American pilots to fly over Former East Germany and saw that very little had been done to build up that country since World War II. There were still piles of rubble from bombed out buildings near the small towns. In December of 1990, I along with the 3rd Armored Division joined 7th Corp in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. We had over 140 helicopters in our Aviation Brigade and luckily didn't lose a single aircraft or crew through the conflict. After returning from the desert I commanded an Assault Helicopter Company in Germany before I was reassigned the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley Kansas. Soon after we arrived in Kansas my son was born. After Desert Storm, the Army was trying to draw down so I left active duty in 1994. After completing my Masters Degree in Business Administration, I got back into the Army Reserves doing the weekend warrior thing. In 2000 I volunteered to deploy to Bosnia on a peace keeping operation with the 29th Infantry Division as the chief aviation officer on the Division Staff. I realized then that I really missed being on active duty and decided to stay active ever since. I currently serve as a Aviation Battalion Commander in Kosovo.