THE WILD BLUE YONDER

Hello and welcome to my WEB pages. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself further and reflect back on the five years that I proudly served this Great Nation in the U.S. Air Force. I hope you won't find my trip down Memory Lane too boring.

As a young man preparing to graduate from Lawrence High School back in 1980, I found myself wanting to follow in the footsteps of a very great man, my Grandfather Willard A. Craig. My Grandfather served our Great Nation during WWII and was a recipient of the Bronze Star, as well as the Purple Heart.

During my senior year I decided that I would honor my Grandfather and enlist in the U.S. Air Force. I did so in December of 1979, and on the 17th of the month I committed to the early enlistment program. I graduated from Lawrence High School in May of 1980 and entered the USAF "Boot Camp" on September 5th of 1980.

During the five years that I spent serving in the armed forces, my accomplishments were many and I know that my Grandfather would have been Proud. Regretfully, he passed away in 1982. In honor of him I would like to list those many accomplishments.

Highest Rank Achieved: Air Force E-5
The first three years of my enlistment were spent with the 44th Strategic Missile Wing based out of Ellsworth A.F.B., Rapid City S. Dakota. In the first eighteen months I was awarded the ICBM Master Technician Badge which I proudly wore on my uniform chest. After receiving the master technician badge, I was appointed to the Team Training Branch of the Missile Wing where I remained as a Missile Maintenance Instructor for the remaining eighteen months. I would add that at the time of my appointment to Instructor, I had only achieved the rank of Airman First Class, a rank that was not generally recognized for instructors. In hopes of seeing more of the world, I crossed trained out of missile maintenance and into aircraft hydraulics in 1984.

During my retraining, I was assigned as a Foreign Liason to two Pakistani military representatives. The experience was both rewarding and challenging. After retraining, my last two years were spent with the 28th Bombardment Wing also stationed at Ellsworth A.F.B. My dream of seeing the world did not come true but I did become a hydraulics specialist for the B-52G/H StratoFortress and for the KC-135 In-Flight Refueler. In the summer of 1985 I tested and received a line number for promotion to Staff Sergeant, but did not actually get to sew it on as I was Honorably Discharged fifteen days before the promotion was effective. I was not too heartbroken however, after all -
I had achieved what I had set out to accomplish, to Proudly Serve My Country in HONOR of my Grandfather.

"In The Heart of the Universe"
Picture and Poem in memory
of my grandfather.
(pdf file-requires Acrobat Reader)

Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery
His Resting Place

IN LOVING MEMORY OF WILLARD CRAIG...

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