letterstotheeditor
Military ‘brat’ life, view of Russia told
I would like to share a few perspectives.
First, I really enjoyed Jack Ferrell’s letter about his mother’s patriotism and Tinker AFB (Opinion page, March 3 issue). His story resonates with me not only with my family, but also the current state of our world.
I, too, am an Air Force “brat,” although I caught the tail end of my father’s career. My father was an officer and pilot for Strategic Air Command (SAC) flying KC-97, KC-135, B-52, Tactical Air Command (TAC) flying F-4 and later working on very cool “stuff” at Space Command (SAMSO) and Wright Patterson AFB (Wright-Pat USAF HQ).
My early childhood could never be compared to others, as I was exposed to aviation innovators and icons, fighter jocks, test pilots, rocket boys, space warriors and the like. I even had monthly trips to the USAF Museum at Wright-Pat.
Ironically, what is old is new again, and not only are the 1980s back in fashion, but the Soviet Union (Russia) is also making a comeback.
Per my “nuclear” family, my father spent one-third of his time on airborne alert (“Chrome Dome”), one-third of his time of ground alert, and one-third of his time training in SAC.
SAC’s unofficial motto was “to err is human, to forgive is not SAC policy,” which resonates with me today.
There is also a picture of my father in his full flight suit in October 1962 (Blytheville AFB), where he is holding a newborn sibling of mine to prove that they met (if he never returned). He had a brief time to go home and say goodbye to his family, as he was going off to nuclear war (Cuban Missile Crisis).
During my father’s last year of SAC, he assisted in the recovery of some missing thermonuclear bombs (B28-FI). Two of those B28s are displayed at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History (Albuquerque, New Mexico).
I grew up in the ’70s/’80s and aviation/military/science was my life. In 1985 at the height of the Cold War, I “dropped a nuke on Memphis” for my eighth-grade science fair and received “Best of Show.” I repeated the feat in 1986 as a freshman for “stealth airplane designs.”
As an adult, I have had the opportunity to work on DOE/NNSA/DOD/”ABC” various supply chain, problem-solving and war-fighting projects, including the nuclear weapons value chain.
Incredibly (as in statistically improbable), just after I sought to be Farragut’s Mayor in 2005 and working as the vice-president/consultant for leading technology and entrepreneurship for our 16 counties known as Innovation Valley, an extended family member of mine was promoted as a key NNSA/DOE decision-maker (Sandia and DC-HQ) with contracting authority of its entire value chain, including our region’s largest economic development investments in Oak Ridge.
For obvious and ethical reasons, I never disclosed this family relationship in our region just as equally I put a self-imposed ban on myself in seeking elected office from 2006 to 2020.
Per my being the only citizen at the BOMA strategic planning session as mentioned in last week’s paper, I can confirm (as I did at the most recent Concord-Farragut Republican Club) to the readership that the topics of “law enforcement” and “emergency preparedness” were not discussed by BOMA during the entire session.
In addition, for those who think we are not a Russian target for a nuclear first strike, you are quite mistaken.
Lastly, Ukraine gave up its nuclear deterrent in exchange for “protection and guarantees” (Budapest Memorandum 1994), which turned out to be worthless.
Free people, communities, states and nations should NEVER give up their ability to effectively deter and fight tyrannical aggression!
~ Bill Johns, Farragut
