Anthony Chesser-Evans:  

didn't bother attending the graduation. I took my last final exam that afternoon, went home, watched some TV and went to bed. Everyone got their degree certificates mailed to them in January, so it wasn't that big a deal. It would take another six months before I could find a job. Military I joined Uncle Sam's Air Farce in June, 1991. After a couple months at Lackland AFB, TX (basic training), a few months at Sheppard AFB, TX (classrom training in aircraft maintenance) and a couple months at Nellis AFB, NV (near Las Vegas; hands-on field training), I took a few weeks of leave over the Christmas and New Years holidays, then inprocessed Hill AFB, UT in January, 1992. I spent nearly two years at Hill. I was in one of the better squadrons on the base, the 4th Fighter Squadron. I learned a lot, had a great time, and really grew up a great deal. In July of 1993, I got orders to Kunsan AB, RoK (that's South Korea). I pondered long and hard whether or not I was going; out of every three people who get orders to "the Kun," one of them leaves the service rather than go; it's THAT bad. If I left, though, I wouldn't qualify for the Veterans' educational benefits I'd need down the road. I arrived at Kunsan on Thanksgiving Day, 1993, and was decidedly NOT thankful. I spent about nine months of my year-long stint in Korea on the graveyard shift (10:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.). That's one of the better ones: no officers around, very few people out and about, nice and quiet, the coolest part of the day. Note: Kunsan has about the same lattitude as Minneapolis, MN, so it's very cold in the winter and hot and humid during the summer. The base sits between a bunch of rice paddies and the Yellow Sea. Consequently, the humidity and the mosquitoes were nasty. This year was the most difficult, most depressing, most stressful, absolute worst time of my life. I didn't drink until I went to Kunsan. I did very little drinking after I left; few things were ever bad enough to put me back in a bottle. I was very happy when I left. When the bus carrying the departing personnel left the base for my last time, all of us turned around and flipped off the main gate. You couldn't pay me enough to go back there. My last base was Luke AFB, AZ (just outside of Phoenix). I got home from Korea just before Thanksgiving, 1994, spent Thanksgiving and Christmas on leave, then reported for duty. I spent the duration in the Wheel and Tire shop, which meant that I was indoors and out of the blistering Arid-zona heat. I left the military in June of 1995. All in all, I spent four years working as a fighter jet service station attendant. When it was all said and done, I could swap an engine, do inspections, tow aircraft, rebuild wheel assemblies, you name it. I only had three stripes on my arm when I left, so I wasn't high enough rank to qualify for the really high-level maintenance work (running engines, advanced troubleshooting, etc.). My experience, and a couple cram courses, were enough that I qualified for an Airframe Mechanic's certification from the FAA. I was very proud to earn that cert, even though I've never used it. The experience also means, however, that I can do most automative maintenance, myself. Short of alignments (which require special equipment) and A/C work (special equipment and certifications needed), my vehicles are very rarely in the shop.