Craig Seabaugh:
CLASS OF 1972
Santa Paula Union High SchoolClass of 1972
Santa paula, CA
Isbell Middle SchoolClass of 1968
Santa paula, CA
Enadia Way SchoolClass of 1966
Canoga park, CA
Craig's Story
Life
After high school I went off to college at Oregon State in Corvallis. The next summer I married Gwen White and she went back to OSU with me in the fall. She worked for a while, then continued her own education. We both graduated at the same time in '76. We spent another year there, then moved to Tucson, AZ where I went to graduate school for a Masters degree.
I entered the Air Force in '79 to start what turned out to be a 25-year career. We had two kids along the way, a son (Jeff) and a daughter (Emily), traveled all over the world, and basically had a lot of fun. I flew fighter jets for the first 13 years, then finished a PhD at Colorado State and taught at the AF Academy for my last 12 years in the AF.
My kids finished high school in Colorado, so that's home to them. The kids are grown now, both married, and starting families of their own. Jeff spent 4 1/2 years in the Marine Corps and took part in the Iraq invasion in 2003, right before he was due to get out. That was a very nervous time for us, but he made it home safely and we are so proud of him. Both kids live in Colorado Springs now which makes visiting easy for me, but I still don't get to see them enough. Emily gave me my first grandchild, Shelby in 2006 and a second, Annabelle, in 2007, and then little Charlotte in 2010. Jeff lost his first child, Jacob, at birth but had a son, Tysen, in 2007 and Mackenzie in 2010.
The saddest part of this saga is that we lost Gwen to colon cancer in 2003. We had been married for nearly 30 years. Her passing crushed us all, but we are moving on as she would have wanted us to. I'm now retired from the AF, and living in Ventura with my new wife (Debra Nasalroad-class of 74). I recently retired from teaching biology at Cal State Channel Islands!
Military
My military career actually started in college. I went to Oregon State University on an AFROTC scholarship. I delayed entry into the Air Force until April, 1979 in order to finish a Master's degree.
My first real military experience was Officer Training School. Three months at Lackland AFB Annex in San Antonio. That was an eye-opener.
From there I went to Mather AFB, outside Sacramento, for Navigator and Electronic Warfare training. I flew the T-43 and T-37 there and that's where my son was born. Mixed in to that year and a half period were trips to bases in Washington state and Florida for survival training. The next step was Fighter Lead-In Training at Holloman AFB, New Mexico where I got to fly my first high speed aircraft, the T-38. I learned to drop bombs, do radar intercepts, and dog-fight there.
Next was my introduction to the F-4E at George AFB in Victorville, CA. I spent 6 months learning all about the back seat of the Phantom a...Expand for more
nd my daughter was born there. By the end of that experience it was late 1981...almost 2 1/2 years of training!
My first operational assignment was to fly the F-4E as a WSO (weapon systems operator) at Moody AFB, Georgia. We lived there less than 1 1/2 years and I was gone much of that time to various training exercises. We called them TDYs (short for temporary duty assignments) and I had a great time practicing my trade as a combat-qualified aviator. Plus, there was the added benefit of a little extra pay! But what I really wanted was to fly the F-4G Wild Weasel. I got my wish in 1982.
We moved back to George AFB and for the next 3 years I flew the Weasel as an EWO (electronic warfare officer). The "G-model" was the version of the F-4 that was modified to detect and attack surface-to-air missile sites. We had special, classified, equipment and weapons. I thought that was sexy, and felt very lucky to be in the company of heroes who had flown in Vietnam against real Soviet missile systems. One of my favorite memories of that period was a month-long deployment my whole squadron made to Germany one summer. We flew 11 hours non-stop (with multiple air-refuelings) there and back.
In 1985 the AF took my toys away and sent me to Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska to be the Wing Electronic Warfare Officer. This was basically a desk job, and to make it worse I was one of only 2 EWOs on the base. Most of the rest of the flyers were F-15 pilots. Talk about some big egos! I ended up making some good friends there and the family and I actually had a great time...Alaska is simply amazing! AND I got to fly the F-15 a few times.
In 1988 it was back to George AFB to get refreshed on the F-4G, then immediately to Spangdahlem AFB, Germany for a 3-year assignment. We all loved being in Europe, and the flying was spectacular! My squadron flew a mix of F-4G and F-16 aircraft in what was called the "hunter-killer" mission. The fun and games were interrupted, however, in 1990 when we deployed to the country of Bahrain for Operation Desert Shield. That, of course was the build-up to Desert Storm. I was in the "sand box" for 7 months (felt like 7 years) and wound up flying 22 combat missions into Iraq. The job stopped feeling sexy after that.
In January 1992 we moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where I became a Biology Instructor at the US Air Force Academy. We spent the next 12 years there; I finished a PhD at Colorado State University; my kids grew up and started their own lives; and Gwen developed cancer and died in 2003. It was the best and worst period of my life. I retired in November 2004 as a Colonel, having served 25 years in the Air Force and 30 years as a husband and father. It was time for a change.
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