Vets offer insight to Air Force’s early years at Lunch-n-Learn

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tonnette Thompson
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The July 19 Lunch-n-Learn offered the usual buffet line of Sheppard Club food items and polite table discussion ... with one notable difference.

In honor of the upcoming 60th birthday of the Air Force, the Top 3 managed to assemble four Air Force veterans who can stake claim to memories forged when the military's youngest branch was newly founded. Retired Maj. Wayne Kuschel, former Women Airforce Service Pilot Marion Hodgson, retired Col. Jerry Hawkins and the 82nd Training Wing's own Patricia Gonzalez headed up a panel to discuss their memories of the Air Force.

When not recalling the atmosphere on the Air Force Academy campus during the height of the Vietnam War, Colonel Hawkins told the story of a stubborn pilot and his equally bullheaded copilot who couldn't agree on whether to ascend or descend, and let their throttles make their arguments for them - until they steered their plane into a tree
"I believe the Air Force switched to a single-throttle model plane shortly after that," he told the chuckling audience.

Major Kuschel, who joined when he was 16 and the Air Force was only a year old, spoke proudly of passing the pilot's exam with only an eighth-grade education and flying with the son of WWII hero Lt. Gen. James Doolittle. He also offered an example of how the times have changed in terms of "rescinding" orders.

"I once saw my orders torn up right in front of me," he told the audience. "That's how badly they needed pilots at the time."

Mrs. Hodgson, who qualified on and flew every type of plane and bomber of the age, during a time when some still couldn't fathom women pilots, spoke of her favorite planes: the AT-6 advanced trainer, the double-breasted cub, or "woodpecker's delight," and the C-45 Expeditor. She also spoke of one liberty offered to WASPs that even left her own husband appalled.

"We flew without copilots," she told the audience. "'Bout scared my husband half to death when I told him I was up there alone. He was a pilot, too, and he never flew without a copilot."

But perhaps the biggest surprise of the luncheon came from one of Sheppard's own. Mrs. Gonzalez, a former member of Women in the Air Force, both amused and titillated her audience with a candid recount of the double standards women in the military faced in the 1940s. When not regaling her audience with stories of the cosmetology classes, etiquette classes and full-body girdles - all required by military regulations - she spoke frankly of the atmosphere, displayed in writing and deed, she and her fellow servicewomen weathered.

"There was actually a regulation on how to wear the dress skirt - whether 2 inches above or below the knee - based on how attractive the woman's legs were," she told her audience, who responded with disbelieving laughter.

As the first woman assigned to her unit, Mrs. Gonzalez recalled many examples of what might now be considered archaic reactions, including the nobler concept of chivalry. When faced with the prospect of placing the sole female in an office populated with men, her commander decided to circumvent the possible fallout by placing Mrs. Gonzalez's desk in his office.

"He did it to protect me," she clarified, "because some of the guys ... might not know how to behave themselves. He still worked from the idea of women needing to be kept safe."

Master Sgt. Carmen Campbell, 363rd Training Squadron and an attendee for the luncheon, found the panel discussion an interesting opportunity to learn what men and women faced during the Air Force's formative years.

"It was a great example of how far the Air Force has come over the years," Sergeant Campbell said. "All the speakers were fantastic.

"I'm glad things have changed, because I know I wouldn't look forward to folding a girdle into 6 inch squares or being required to take makeup classes."

All kidding aside, Sergeant Campbell believed the overall message of growth and progress was well received.

"I think it gave some of the younger Airmen some good information, that they can respect how the Air Force has changed for the better, become a more equal force, and how differences between men and women are now used as a gain rather than a hindrance."

Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, 82nd Training Wing commander, was among those in attendance.

"You stand as a great reminder of how everything in the Air Force today is based on what came before," he told the panel, before offering each of them a wing coin.

For information on the next Lunch-n-Learn, the topics and the speakers, call Senior Master Sergeant Charles Woske at 676-4712.