Tom Houser:  

Life I served twenty-two years as an Army officer, having received a commission as a Second Lieutenant from the Infantry Officer Candidate School in early 1967. I then went to flight school and flew two combat tours in Vietnam in Huey helicopters (medical evacuation, combat assaults, recon) but only got shot down once with a few other close calls. I was also a production test pilot for three years in both helicopters and airplanes with a few more exciting times! I quickly learned in Vietnam that life's focus shouldn't be on yourself but on others (duh!). Never realized how self-centered I was until my first day in combat when I was shocked to witness a 19 year old fellow pilot save 7 lives and get shot down twice in the process. His example changed my life forever or at least I began the process of changing into a better person. Of course, I still have a long way to go as everyone does, whether they admit it or not. I eventually decided to apply to be an astronaut because the Army was looking for its first astronaut. However, my plans suddenly changed when I lost my dear 32 year old wife to a brain aneurysm. I was left with two small children who became my first priority in life. From that experience, I learned you should never think that terrible things like that can't happen to you and you should cherish every moment you spend with your loved ones. Most importantly, I learned that God loves us so much that He can bring good out of something that seemed only bad. Eventually, I met and married a young widow from my church with two small children who lost her husband from the same thing under the same circumstances at the same hospital! We met in the five year old Sunday School Class where her son and mine were students. Luck, coincidence, or the Hand of God?? I think it was the latter. I started MEVATEC Corporation with two others in 1989 and we built it into a fairly large company doing aerospace/defense work and management consulting. We sold it to BAE Systems in 2003 and I worked three years doing the transition. In 2006, I decided to retire but as you will see, my heart wasn't really in it. In early 2007, I decided to go into business again after realizing I wasn't ready to retire. You can ride a WaveRunner across a lake a few times but then you sit around and ask "What else is there?" Besides, it's better to wear out than to rust out! My new business partner and I bought a small company and rescued two others and then integrated them into one company which wasn't been easy. We have a subsidiary that deploys civilians to Iraq and Afghanistan to support our forces. In April of 2010 I turned the operation of the company over to my business partner because I got an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I became the president of S3 (System Studies and Simulation) which is in aerospace and defense. Best of all, it does a lot of flight training for Army pilots and it is great to be associated with that my fellow aviators again. We also train foreign pilots as well. I can't work 11 to 12 hour days as well as I used to and I know I need to find a good time to hang it up in the next year or so. I think I am one of those people who is at the age where they are looking for a place where he/she can find a place to help and/or serve others. I'm ...Expand for more