Someone To Watch Over Me

He sensed adventure...but somehow overlooked danger

Air Force Intelligence Badge

It was the mid-60's
He was attending Air Force Intelligence School
Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado
Sandwiched between Denver and Aurora

Lowry would later be noteworthy (at least in his mind)
For its close proximity to the bars of Colfax Ave
And the famous( ?) "Zanzabar" nightclub
Of Clint Eastwood's 1978 movie,
"Every Which Way But Loose" fame

Note: But Colfax Avenue and the Zanzabar... is another story with a little more detail (click here) Ben and Jack
Another note: the old Zbar location is now a Walgreen's
The "Starbucks" of drugstores... wouldn't you know?!

At Lowry, he was studying two separate but related Intelligence technician skills.

The first; air (current) intelligence was somewhat like gathering tidbits of news from different government spy agencies and passing relevant parts to air crews... keeping them up on the latest. Analysts were also responsible for tasks like building strike charts (maps) for aircrews to use on bombing missions, drawing radar predictions and teaching them fighter aircraft recognition... "This here's a photo of a Russian MIG. You either want to shoot them down, observe them or stay away from them...depending."

The second skill was photo interpretation. This involved using the techniques of photogrammetry to analyze (mostly) aerial photography and identify bombing targets. When finished, he could be assigned to jobs in either skill. Either way, it was all interesting so he was enjoying school - a rare experience for him in his young life.

One day, in class there was an announcement. "We are looking for volunteers for training as Air Intelligence Airman Parachutists." Since he was 21 at the time and feeling the same sense of immortality that infects most folks of that age he quickly volunteered.

First, there was physical conditioning testing at the base gymnasium. He was asked to do rope climbs to the rafters, push-ups, sit-ups and other tests of strength. He handily passed all. Next step was a physical exam and that is where he had trouble. His eyesight was 20/200 correctable to 20/20 and that was "outside the acceptable limits" for parachute training. He wasn't too happy about that, particularly since he played wide receiver in a lot of sandlot tackle football and had majored in billiards in high school... all without glasses (he was pretty content, and successful at playing the blurs).

Anyway that was that.

Shortly thereafter, he learned most of those accepted for training ended up in Viet Nam and South America, participating in and teaching counterinsurgency... at that time a job with an extremely high fatality rate.

Right there and then someone was watching over him. You know who.

(For more detail on Intelligence activities following this adventure click here: Randal C - You've Been Found!)