Previously Held NEC AN-0000-Airman
8327-Organizational Maintenance
AME-8341-F/A-18 E-F (Super Hornet) Organizational Level Maintenance Technician
Service Years
1972 - 1993
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
What are you doing now:
I'm A Environmental Health Inspector for Mohave County. I have Been living in Lake Havasu Since 1993. I went on the have three children and 8 grandchildren. They fill our lives with love. My wife Heater and i have been married now thirty three years. My son joined the Marines and he did two tours in Iraq and one in Afganistan with out a scratch. He obted to come home and raise his family here. My youngest daughter Jamey is serving in the US Navy she is currently staioned in Wheidby Island. Her first tour was on the last Carrier I was on the Abraham Lincoln. My wife Heather got to go on a dependants Cruise from Hawaii to San Diego with her and it was the trill of her life. My oldest daughter works for lake havasu city Retire the Second time in four years. Not for long though I'm sure I'll find a third career after 21 years in the Navy its hard to sit around just can't do it.
Other Comments:
I lost my best friend Patrick H. Butler. He passed away the end of July after a bitter battle with cancer. He was a good friend who probaly knew me better then I know myself. He was always full of fun, compassion for his shipmates and family, but he also had a stern hand when things needed to be done. The team we became was something of a calvin and hobbs type of thing, He always pulled me back when it wasnt' safe and pushed me in when it was. We held each other up he had my back and I had his. The year we made chief was something else. They rated one PR and one AME that year and we both made it from the same squadron. I wonder what would have become of us had one of us not. He would have smiled and said next time. I of course would have pouted I will miss him, He was so full of life. He honestly cared I trusted him without doubt. If he told you it was so then it was. I have never met a man i admired more. Fair winds and following sails my friend. God Bless and rest in piece we will miss you
NEC AME-8341-F/A-18 E-F (Super Hornet) Organizational Level Maintenance Technician
Base, Station or City Eltoro
State/Country California
Patch
VMFAT-101 Sharpshooters Details
Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 (VMFAT-101), was commissioned at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California on January 3, 1969, as part of Marine Combat Crew Readiness Training Group 10, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The squadron trained naval aviators and naval flight officers in the employment of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. VMFAT-101 flew its first training sortie February 20, 1969, and completed its first class of fighter aircrew by August of that year. During the summer of 1970, VMFAT-101 moved to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona In 1972 the Sharpshooters earned their first Chief of Naval Operations CNO Aviation Safety Award for Excellence in aviation safety after compiling over 18,300 mishap free flight hours.
In July 1974, VMFAT-101 absorbed the assets of VMFAT-201 from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina and became the largest fixed wing tactical jet squadron and the sole remaining F-4 training squadron in the Marine Corps. The Sharpshooters earned the 1976 CNO Aviation Safety Award, as well as the Commanding General Fleet Marine Forces Pacific Aviation Safety Award in 1978 and 1979 while it amassed over 30,000 mishap-free flight hours. The Sharpshooters continued to train aircrews in the venerable Phantom II and in 1983 earned the coveted Marine Corps Aviation Association Robert M. Hanson Award as the finest fighter squadron in Marine aviation. May 20, 1987, VMFAT-101 trained its last F-4 replacement aircrew; during July the squadron flew its remaining 10 F-4 aircraft to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., for permanent storage. During the 18 years VMFAT-101 flew the Phantom, the Sharpshooters amassed over 125,000 flight hours training Marine and Navy aircrews for the fleet.
An F/A-18D from VMFAT-101 on the tarmac.
On September 29, 1987, VMFAT-101 returned to MCAS El Toro to prepare for duty as the third F/A-18 Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). March 31, 1988, MCCRTG-10 deactivated and VMFAT-101 joined Marine Aircraft Group 11. By October of that year, the Sharpshooters owned 21 F/A-18s, had trained 25 qualified instructor pilots and were ready to begin training new Hornet pilots. By May 1989 VMFAT-101 graduated 23 new F/A-18 pilots and accumulated over 11,000 mishap free Hornet flight hours. In December 1989 the squadron entered its sixth year mishap/injury free.
On January 10, 1990, VMFAT-101 accepted its first two seat F/A-18D Hornet and began training aircrew for the transition into the Hornet. In June 1990 the Sharpshooters had graduated over 150 Hornet aircrew, amassed over 28,000 F/A-18 A, B, C and D flight hours
On November 30, 2006, a Hornet from VMFAT-101 crashed just east of MCAS Miramar. The pilot ejected safely to the ground three miles east of the airfield.[1][2]
On December 8, 2008, an F/A-18D Hornet from VMFAT-101 crashed in the University City neighborhood of San Diego, approximately two miles to the west of MCAS Miramar, destroying two houses and killing four people on the ground.[3][4][5] The pilot safely ejected and landed with minor injuries. The aircraft suffered a mechanical failure due to negligent maintenance shortly after taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln en route to MCAS Miramar from a training exercise.[6][7] The investigation, released on March 3, 2009, concluded that a failure to maintain the fuel system led to the crash, as well as questionable decision making on the parts of the pilot and squadron officials on the ground, leading to the relieving of the squadron commander, maintenance officer, and two others.
