Tom Yeager:
CLASS OF 1977
South Gate High SchoolClass of 1977
South gate, CA
Scioto County Joint Vocational SchoolClass of 2007
Lucasville, OH
Bellevue UniversityClass of 1984
Bellevue, NE
South Gate Junior High SchoolClass of 1974
South gate, CA
Bryson Elementary SchoolClass of 1971
South gate, CA
Tom's Story
Life
A bio... let's see--graduated from South Gate High in 1977, started working in a roofing factory until a series of layoffs in 1980; got married to Jo Ann Smith (jr hi and HS sweetheart--she went to Bell, though), joined the USAF in June '80 after not being able to find a job. Went into computer operations, first duty station Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE. Jo decided Omaha wasn't for her; we eventually got divorced. Since then I've been stationed at Osan AB, Korea; Bergstrom AFB, Austin, TX; Rhein-Main AB, Germany; Ramstein AB, Germany; Andersen AFB, Guam; RAFs Molesworth/Alconbury/Upwood (the Tri-base) and finished my career at Shaw AFB, SC. I was in 25 years, retired as of 1 Aug 2005.
Finally finished my degree in 2002... only took 21 years! I have 1984 as a "graduation" year from Bellevue College; that's because it doesn't give an option to just say that was your last year there. My alma mater is the University of Maryland, having attended UofM courses at two bases in Germany, on Guam, and at three bases in the UK--plus countless hours doing classes online. Let's hear it for Distance Ed! Without it this degree would not have happened.
Got married 1 Mar 04, to the woman I asked to marry me back in 1989, Rhonda Yager. She took a while to be convinced. Passions include motorcycling and scuba diving.
After retiring I got a commercial drivers license and moved to Lucasville, OH, to join Rhonda. She moved back here when she retired. We live in what used to be her grandparent's house on 10 acres. A while after retiring I got a job as an over-the-road truck driver for Roehl Transport. I quickly decided that it sucked, and as soon as I could I quit and went back to school to get my IT certifications. Unfortunately there aren't many jobs in this area, let alone IT jobs, so I may wind up having to commute quite a ways once I do find work again.
Worked part time as an Adult Education instructor teaching IT certification courses in the skills that I was unable to find a job doing locally (other than teaching.) The second school I worked for (summer of 2008) was in the process of being taken over by another company while I was teaching for them. The original school's computers were all very, very old so the new school (Daymar College) sent in an IT team to replace them and upgrade the networks...Expand for more
, etc. I met the network manager and a couple of tech while they were there. The network manager told me that they all lived and worked in Kentucky and they needed an IT guy in Ohio. The position was created, they hired me, and I've been working for them since Oct 2008. It's quite a step down in responsibilities from what I did in the USAF, but it's a great company to work for and I enjoy my job and the people I support. The job is regional field technician and I support four campuses in Ohio. I spend a lot of time driving between campuses! I count myself very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time. And to think I almost turned down the teaching gig that put me in that right place!
Cheers,
Tom
College
First started college in '82, I think it was, at Bellevue College, outside of Offutt AFB, Bellevue, NE. Never declared a major, but if you looked at my courses it would probably have been Fine Art with a minor in English. Burned out during my third year (tried carrying 16 hours, four of which were French--and I had a full-time job in the AF). Made a couple of attempts to get back into school, taking classes here and there after I left Offutt, and then had a good run of classes from the University of Maryland at Rhein-Main AB, Germany. A bad motorcycle accident put a stop to that; didn't get started again until about '97 at Andersen AFB, Guam (UofM again--earned my Community College of the AF Associates degree) and really got serious while stationed at RAF Molesworth, UK, (UofM, of course) where I spent my off-duty time for three years ignoring the call of my motorcycle and the roads to finally finish my bachelor's degree, graduating at the end of August 2002 with a BS in Information Systems Management. After retirement I spent a year working on IT certifications to add to the degree. I am scheduled to start working on my Masters in Information Technology from American Intercontinental University in March, 2010.
Military
It's not that I don't want to discuss why I joined, it's that the reasons Classmates forces you to choose between didn't include mine: I was out of work, couldn't find work, and figured the AF would give me work and training. Didn't know I'd still be there 25 years later! I do miss wearing the uniform and the responsibilities that went with it...
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