Jon Sutterfield:
CLASS OF 1981
Litchfield High SchoolClass of 1981
Litchfield, MN
Jon's Story
1985 - Graduated University of Minnesota with a Bachelor's degree I'm Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics. Inducted to Sigma Gamma Tau National Honor Society in Aerospace Engineering. AFROTC Distinguished Graduate and commissioned Active Duty Second Lieutenant.
1985-1989 Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton Ohio. Lead Structures Engineer on F119 engine for the F-22. Selected as 1 of 16 applicants Air Force-wide to career broaden into Aircraft Maintenance. This would be a major change in career path for me but I so enjoyed it I later convinced the USAF HR people in 1994 to make what was a 3 yr temp change of career permanent. I don't regret it one bit.
1988 - Graduated from University of Dayton with Masters in Mechanical Engineering.
1989 - Chanute AFB Illinois. Distinguished Graduate Air Force Aircraft and Munitions Maintenance Officer Course.
1989-1992 RAF Upper Heyford Oxfordshire UK. Worked F-111E bombers and EF-111A jammer aircraft. In 1990 I moonlighted as an adjunct professor of mathematics for the Univ of Maryland European Division. Also in 1990 I was the ground operations officer for the Sky Pageant '90 Air Show. Several European Air Forces psrticipated including Czechoslovakia (MiG-29 air demonstration). The RAF Red Arrows were the headliner and they were amazing. The show was the biggest success in wing history and I was awarded the AF Achievement Medal. 1991- Led 2 deployments to Desert Storm. First, to Incirlik AB, Turkey and later to King Abdul Azziz AB in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. I had no idea this would be my first of 4 summers in Southwest Asia. While at Dhahran. We all live a few miles from the base in Khobar Towers. This place was bombed by terrorists a couple of years later.
Amongst a myriad of other experiences I got a ride in one of my jets while at Dhahran. Flew supersonic across the Arabian desert and over the Persian Gulf. The oil fires were still burning in Kuwait and were visible from our location. I also spent a day with the Navy on the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf. Named 1991 20th Tactical Fighter Wing Maintenance Officer of the Year.
Living in the picturesque Cotswolds area of England was awesome. I lived in a renovated cottage on the Shelswell Estate in Newton Purcell about 8 miles from Oxford city center. Oxford and nearby Blenheim Palace are so beautiful. I loved driving there. Especially taking my manual tyranny cars (a red 87 mini or my red 89 Volvo 340 hatchback) down hedgerow lined single track roads. It's a real thrill. The cottage was built in 1662. It had a thatch roof, spiral staircase, open hearth fireplace and a flagstone kitchen floor. The gardens were beautiful kept bu my landlords. I remember a Boxing Day fox hunt going right by me in the garden in 1990. My landlords, Stewart and Gillian were cool. Stewart taught me to play an 18th century pub game called Aunt Sally where you take turns using wooden batons to toss at Sally's "head" to knock it off a metal pole. Fun on a long summer evening.
1992 - Graduated AF Squadron Officer School Maxwell AFB Alabama.
1992-1996 Kelly AFB San Antonio Texas. Program Manager. Fielded F100-229 engine fleet for F-15s and F-16s. Certified USAF propulsion system mishap investigator.
1996-1999 Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona. Worked EC-130 and A-10A aircraft. Deployed 1997 as Squadron Maintenance Officer to Ahmed Al Jaber AB, Kuwait with my
A-10s and Terre Haute Indiana ANG F-16 aircraft and maintainers. During the deployment i taught a night class in Algebra 2 as an adjunct professor for Pima Community College in Tucson Arizona. Trained and certified as a USAF aircraft mishap investigator. Completed USAF Combat Ammunitions Course at Beale AFB CA which was fun because after academics you get to build bombs
for few days. Mar 98-Jun 99, Squadron Commander 355 CRS. During my tour at DM the Wing submitted me to the Air Force as their nominee for the annual Lt Gen Leo Maquez Field Grade Officer Mainenance Award. I never won this award but it was an honor to be nominated.
2000 - Graduated from Air Command and Staff College with a Master's Degree in Military Operational Arts and Science. Upon graduation i was assigned as Instructor in the Joint Warfare Studies Dept where I was named the Air Force Military Officer Instructor of the Year. Commandant selection for German Fuhrungsakademie faculty exchange program in Hamburg Germany.
2001- Reassigned as Executive Office to the Commander of Air University (3-star). It was in this job I met Robby Weida's brother the Brig Gen Johnny Weida (a former USAF Thunderbird pilot) who worked for my boss so I spoke to him off and on during my tenure as exec. Johnny went on to become a 3-star. During this assignment i competed in a 30km duathlon at Maxwell AFB.
2002-2003 Commander, 8th Maintenance Squadron, Kansan AB Republic of Korea. Worked F-16s, munitions and support equipment maintenance. Defender Day with the cops was a blast! I got to launch an 80mm illumination mortar out over the Yellow Sea, Get subdued in a bite suit by a Military Working Dog named Damien, fire a geenade laucher, drive an Armored Personnel Carrier, go all terrain driving in a Hummer, and fire several combat arms including a Squad Automatic Weapon on the firing range. I got to fly in the backseat of an F-16D on a Close Air Support traing mission with the Army along the DMZ. We pulled 6.5gs and I got some stick time on return to base. I visited the DMZ. Mar 03 i ran the Seoul Dong A marathon finishing in the Olympic stadium. My time was 3:20:56 qualifying me for Boston at age 40. I ran Grandma's Marathon in Jun 03 impeoving my time to 3:14:34 again qualifying for Boston.
2003-2004 Air War College. Earned a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies. Traveled all over India including the Taj Mahal, the American Embassy and meetings with Indian military leaders in New Delhi. We visit a military base and a Buddhist temple 12,000 ft elev near the village of Leh in Kashmir deep in the Himalayas, flying there on a Indian Air Force An-32 Russian transport plane. We toured a Su-26MKI fighter Squadron and the Indian National Military Academy in Pune, the Mumbai stock exchange and Bollywood. On the way back to Montgomery Alabama we stopped in DC and visited the Pakistani Embassy and had lunch there with the Ambassador and key staff including his military attached.
2004-2006 Deputy Commander, 20th Maintenance Group at Shaw AFB South Carolina. Deployed in 2005 as Deputy Commander, 332 Expeditionary Maintenance Group, Balad AB Iraq. Worked F-16s, HH-60s, Predators, Ammo, transient aircraft, special mission aircraft and support equipment.
2006-Deployed to Maple Flag Exercise at Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada as US Forces Maintenance Group Commander. I had F-15s, F-16s and an E-3.
2006-Propulsion Branch Chief, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia.
2007-Promoted to Colonel and by name requested to be Group Commander early. Air Force Chief of Staff approved and I deployed as the first one-year Commander of the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Group, Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. If you don't look at ground zero it reminds me a bit of Tuscon as it is surrounded by the Hindu Kush range in Parwan Province. The biggest difference in scenery is the mountains...Expand for more
at Bagram have much higher peaks on the order of 12,000 to 15,000 feet. I was responsible for anmo, HH-60 CSAR helos, F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10s and C-130s, transient aircaft including Russian commercial aircraft. There are many things i remember about my time in Iraq and Afghanistan. I like to focus on the good things. I got to fly in a brand new C-130J during their first deployment to Afghanistan. I flew in the jump seat on the flight deck on an airlift mission to a small Foward Operating Location on the border of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. We landed and departed from the single gravel runway on the post. I also recall flying in the jump seat on a couple of night missions on C-17s that crossed the Persian Gulf. You can see a lot more than you can on a C-130. An impressive view of the Gulf region. In Feb 2008 i i was requested to make a short trip to Maxwell AFB Alabama to be a guest speaker at the USAF Group Commanders' Course. The jet lag was really bad. At my Change of Command I was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
When I relinquished Command and returned to Headquarters Air Combat Command where I became Combat Aircraft Division Chief directing maintenence and logistics support for America's Combat Air Forces' fighter and bomber fleets including the B-1B, B-2, B-52, A-10, F-15C/D/E, F-16, F-22 and the F-35. The Combat Air Forces included Air Combat Command, Air National Guard, AF Reserve, AF Test, Pacific Air Force and US European Forces aircraft worldwide. Probably the biggest highlight was I briefed House and Senate Armed Services Committee staffers in the US Capitol building on a plan to repair A-10 wing skin cracks which was later approved by Congress and the fleet was safely returned to service worldwide ahead of schedule. In early 2010 I was invited to be the commencement speaker at the Air Force Aircraft and Munitions Maintenance Officer Course graduation at Seppard AFB Texas. I retired 1 Oct 2010, was awarded the Legion of Merit.
I then began my return to USAF Engineering after being away from it for 21 years. Everyone thought my experience was dated and didn't want me. I moved to Oklahoma so I could get back in the jet engine business eventually. I took a job at the FAA working as Lead Engineer on Customs and Border Protection surveillance systems. Two years later I transferred to Tinker AFB as a GS-12 which is entry level for engineering and I was back in the door at propulsion where I managed J85 and T-56 Component Improvement Programs. A year later my boss told me the Lead Engineer position for the F119 engine program was open and I should apply so I did. I interviewed for the job and was selected and promoted to GS-13. In Sep 2014 I was selected by interview for the
E-3 AWACS aircraft Sustaining Engineering Branch Chief position. After two days my new boss told me he was leaving to attend a school in DC for a year. So the Chief Engineer position was vacant for a year because they had to leave it open in case my boss wanted to return after graduation. When he did graduate he opted to take a job at the Pentagon. I has done two jobs for a year and so I put my hat in the ring and interview fo the job as Chief Engineer, E-3 AWACS division. I got the job and the promotion to GS-15 which is the Civil service equivalent of Colonel. Six and a half years later I retired from Civil Service in Dec 2021. Awarded the Oustanding Career Civil Service Award.
Other places outside the continental US I have visited include: Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela (1988), Puerto Rico, Barbados, Martinique, Grenada, St Thomas, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Qatar.
I retired at age 59 to be a full time caregiver to my wife who has an autoimmune disorder (Sjogren's Syndrome), congenital heart disease and a rare cancer named Neuroendocrine Tumor cancer (NETS). I retired one day after they removed the middle lobe of her right lung. It had two malignant NETS tumors. We try to travel when she is well enough but there are a lot of doctor appoints here. BTW she says I'm a great cook. I also do laundry, dishes, the yard, fix cars. It's my domestic skill sets but on steroids. For over 20 years I have made time to go to the gym 6-7 days per week to keep my sanity. I do what has to be done. When "all the stars align" we take a cruise in the convertible. I've been renovating our house. I think I just finished...for the second time.
We have six grandkids. Three boys and three girls. On Mondays I have the two oldest granddaughter over for most of the day. That's a hoot. Maria is 3 and Gracelynn is 18 months. I've changed hundreds of diapers. It doesn't bother me after everything I've gone through.
My days at LHS were sweet with a very bitter finish that shattered my heart and hurt me unspeakably. I have never fully recovered from being betrayed and abandoned but then I hit the floor. I was able to pull myself up, dust off and draw on my faith again to keep moving forward. It's true. That which doesn't kill you can make you stronger.
I thank God for my mother, her parents and my teachers for the successes I have enjoyed. I thank Dad for teaching me my work ethic. Dad was an angry, difficult and sometimes physically abusive man. He never came to any concerts, parades, games or activities I participated in. People told me he would brag about me but he never once told me he was proud of me or that he loved me.
I had to find my own way to pay for college but I wanted to go and I like the idea of working on airplanes so I applied for Navy and Air Force ROTC 4-year scholarships. The Navy offered me a scholarship but i decided to wait a few days to respond and that paid off when thankfully the Air Force offered me a scholarship too so I was able to go to college and pursue and eventually fulfill at least a few of my dreams.
BTW, Dad is in a better place now the next time I see him he will be a totally different father to me.
My mother was a woman who sought God's heart. Despite many years of dementia when I was told the end was getting near I drove for two days straight and when I entered her room she knew exactly who I was. What a blessing! Throughout her battle with dementia she always knew who I was but could not remember one other person other than my dad.
I salute Mr Johnson, Mr Anderson, Mr Scharmer, Mr Gross, Ms Koenig, Ms Miller, Mr Gustafson and Mr Brix RIP and all the others. Yes. Mr Gross... I can't tell you how much a year of typing class helped me in college and my 36 year career. I speak of Mr Johnson and Mr Brix often and who can forget the wit, wisdom and advice of Barry Huggett?
I also salute my fellow Vets...Keith Lee, Jeff Angier and all others who served our great country. We know there has been no place as great as America during our lives. During my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan I saw too many young Americans go home in flag draped coffins. Professionals were supported at all hours and in all conditions to pay proper respect to our fallen comrades. They gave all. Let us not forget their sacrifice so we may live in the land of the free.
And I wish the best to all the alums of the class of 1981.
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