Brooks Green:  

After high school I went from job to job; digging ditches, construction, warehouse, etc. nothing permanent and nothing on the horizon that showed any promise. A friend of mine and I discussed going to see a recruiter, he the air force, me the navy. I wanted very badly to learn electronics and took the test for the navy and the closest I qualified for electronics was as an electrician on jets. As I left the navy recruiters office, my friend and the air force recruiter were in the hallway and the recruiter told me to come on in and take the test with my friend, maybe the air force could offer me something better. I did and they did. I qualified for electronics; I was going to train to be in Cryptographic Equipment Maintenance. I would be able to spend pretty much my first year in San Antonio. It was while in basic training that I met my first wife, we married in June 1973. After my tech school training ended my first duty station was Eglin AFB, Florida. I arrived there in January 1974 and my oldest son was born the following March. He was by far the best thing that came from that marriage, as we divorced in 1975. Florida remained my home until the summer of 1977, when needing a change, I volunteered for an overseas assignment. After all, I had joined the air force to get quality training and see some of the world. In July 1977 I arrived in West Germany. This was a wonderful time, I saw my first snow on my birthday, visited several European countries, which included going through East Germany to West Berlin. While in Germany things were happening back in San Antonio that would set the stage for my future. Long story short, I was supposed to be in Germany for three years but was there just over two years because I was fortunate enough to gain custody of my son. As a result, I was transferred to Kelly AFB in San Antonio. While assigned to Security Hill, I would meet the woman who would be a big part of my life. We got married in May 1981 and in July we were reassigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii. We would spend three years there and have two children, a girl and a boy. It was in Hawaii that I decided what I wanted to do after my air force tour ended. While teaching a CPR class, I came home and told Donna that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. After our Hawaiian vacation was over, we returned to the mainland. We had requested anything on the east coast and the air force did the best they could...we were assigned to Beale AFB, California. We actually were only assigned t...Expand for more