Kim Triesler:
CLASS OF 1970
Dover High SchoolClass of 1970
Dover, DE
Delaware State UniversityClass of 1979
Dover, DE
Delaware Technical & Community CollegeClass of 1970
Georgetown, DE
Central Middle SchoolClass of 1966
Dover, DE
Fountaindale Elementary SchoolClass of 1962
Hagerstown, MD
Kim's Story
Life
It is so hard for me to believe that I have been in the military for 36+ years now (3+ in the US Army; almost 8 in the USAF Reserves at Dover AFB; and 25+ on active duty as a commissioned officer). The good news is that I can retire any time I want. The bad news is that when I do I will have to figure out what to wear to work every day on my own!
I had a nice house built about two and a half years ago that I am still working on getting the yard in shape. The next major step in getting all new furniture, but I am holding off on that in case I get a job opportunity "I can't refuse" away from Montgomery, AL.
I am looking to get another job as I cannot see myself sitting around the house doing nothing. I am working on getting several more professional certifications and maybe even go back to school for my PhD. Hey, why not, it is only just a lot of reading and writing which is what I do in my career anyway.
School
The good news is that I have fond memories of attending school and the many wonderful friendships I formed while I was there. Of course I remember some of the many funny things that happened there (Dana Dougherty, Henry Forester, Gary Austin, Fred Simmons and Doug Herman who tried their best to make me laugh at inopportune moments during class), the embarrasments of hormones kicking in when you least expected or wanted them to happen!
Who did I have the biggest crush on? That's a tough question as there were so many very pretty girls all around the school. As life goes, there were some girls that I was very interested in but they would not even give me the time of day. I have always wondered what has become of them... Of course, I had my girlfriend Kathy Boland whom many of you did not see much as that is another story entirely.
As far a my most inspirational teacher, I would have to say Mr. Livingston as he took a great interest in making sure I did my work right and always encouraging me to reach farther than I thought I was capable of doing. Many students teased him, a bit unfairly in my opinion, but he was a good sport and took it good heartedly. But, I will never forget in our senior year when awards were being presented and he was at the podium in the gym ready to give out a $500 scholarship when he called my name. I was so surprised that I had to ask Dana Dougherty, who I was sitting next to, if I had heard him right! But what pleased me the most was the wonderful applause I got from everyone in the auditorium that day, which really surprised me no end. I did not know that that many people cared for me as there were times I was quiet and reflective for some very important things going on in my life during my senior year which only a handful of you know about.
College
Went to University of Delaware at the Georgetown, DE campus for the first semester and then I transfered to the Newark, DE campus and live in the Dickinson dorms. What stories I could tell you about that! My roomie, Dave, and I had the same birthday, and we always found a way to celebrate that fact quite often. He was a tremendously funny guy who was very laid back and fun to be around. I had to go into the Army as I had what I thought was a low draft number and I had run out of money for college. The U of D thought my dad made too much money for me to qualify for a student loan. Little did they know or care that dad and mom were still paying bills for the time dad had numerous heart attacks and was out of work. He got lines of credit which kept food on the table, medicines for him, etc., until he got another job. He promised he would pay everyone back and it took him quite a while but he did as he promised.
When I got out of the Army I went to Delaware State College and had some good professors, but what disappointed me the most was the students who felt college was high school part 2, which meant screwing off, missing classes, playing dumb to get the professors to slow down, and just try to get through college by claiming they had been on campus and therefore deserved a degree. I was actually approached a couple of times by students asking me to not make high scores on the tests as "I was screwing up the grade curves." Gee, and I thought college was an institute of higher learning and not the Delaware version of the Ridgemont High movie. I knew I had to rely on my brain and the value I could bring a company with my smarts to get a job.
Chapman University was really tough, but I have always liked a good challenge as I wanted to EARN my degree. The hardest part was the comprehensive final which lasted 5 or 6 hours and my hand almost cramps up again whenever I think about it. You should have heard the whoop I raised when I opened the letter from the Univesity when I found out I had passed! I was also fortunate that my younger brother could com...Expand for more
e out to California from Delaware to attend my graduation ceremony in Orange, CA. It was on a nice day and some kind soul had brought some champagne which we passed around...before we stood up to receive our degrees.
Workplace
My workplace is the military, but that has not always been the case for the past 36 years. I have been on active duty in the Army, then in the Air Force Reservces where I was a C-5A loadmaster instructor and flew all over the world (Tehran, Iran, was actually a very nice place to visit back in 1976 and 1977). But I also worked in private industry in accounting and auditing for a Fortune 500 company (Uniroyal, Inc.), a slightly smaller company (International Silver Company), and then a small, family-owned firm in Milford, DE: Burris Food Inc. Then it was back into the Air Force.
Look at my military bio for more...
Military
Started out in the US Army on 20 Sep 71 as I had run out of money to attend college. So, I had a choice: either join the service as I had a low draft number or join and pick a career field. So, I joined the Army as they offered me a three-year tour in the Nike-Hercules Missile defense system. I went to boot camp at Fort Dix, NJ, and what memories I have of that place! Nothing but hiking around in the sand on our way to the rifle ranges, quick-time marching to every place we had to go to: the old hurry up and wait. Then I was sent down to Fort Bliss, Texas, in El Paso, TX, for my training in Nike-Hercules Missiles. Made some really good friends there. Training took about two months and then I was on my way to California to Mount Gleason, where the A-4-65 Air Defense Artillery Battalion was located just South of Palmdale, CA. We were out in the boonies, but what a sight we had at night of the lights of LA! Absolutely gorgeous! From there I went to Fort Benning, GA, or OCS, but washed out due to any injury to my knee from an auto accident I had on my way there from California. I was sent over to the 5th Replacement Battalion in Frantfurt, Germany, where I found out I was assigned to a unit in Athens, Greece. How tough could that be? Had a lot of fun there and did a lot of traveling all over Greece and the Greek islands. From there I was sent back to the US for my last assignment as a personnel specialist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washingon, DC. I got out of the Army on 19 Nov 74 and was a full time USAF Reservist with the 709th MAS at Dover AFB where I became a C-5A loadmaster instructor and rose to the rank of MSgt in record time. However, I wanted to apply my degree, so I applied for a commission and two years later I got the call to report to Lackland AFB, Medina Annex, TX, for OTS. Did really well there and went to my first assignment at Hanscom AFB, MA (near Boston) for three years. Then I was off to Los Angeles to be a general's aide-de-camp, executive officer and base contracting officer (all rolled in one) for four years. Unfortunately, the Air Force had to keep me in the area and so I was reassigned to a Defense Plant Representative Office at Rockwell International in Anaheim (yes, near Disneyland). Bought a condo there for $120,000 and I had to sell it when I left. It just sold recently for $341,000! Wish I had kept it now... Then I was off in 1992 to Loring AFB, Maine, to be the 42nd Contracting Squadron Commander in Chilly Willey land. Talk about COLD winters! Then I went to Langley AFB, VA, to be on the Air Combat Command Contracting Division staff. However, during my tour there I was deployed to Panama to support Operation SAFE HAVEN to take care of 17,000 people. That is a story that would take up a LOT of space to tell. Anyway, I was selected to go to Air Command & Staff College in residence at Maxwell AFB, AL, which I did in 96 and 97. Then I was off to Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, for a three-year tour in three different offices there. Next I was transferred to Gunter Annex to work at the Standard Systems Group for two years. I was then sent to the Air Force Logistics Management Agency first as their Contracting Division Chief and then selected as the Deputy Commander of the Agency. Now THAT job was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, AFPC, in their infinite wisdom, decided I needed to move again so they sent me "across the street" to the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, AL, as the Director, Senior Leader Course Operations Division. We have 4,300+ students actively enrolled in our distance learning program and there are just four of us managing all of those students: grading exams and papers, answering phones, e-mails, analyzing tests to verify their accuracy, working on special projects, etc. Never a dull moment, that is for sure! But I always like to think that I am doing some good for the country so that folks here and elsewhere can enjoy the freedoms that we have here...
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Kim was invited to the
165 invitees
Photos
