David McHone

Huntsville, Alabama

Once you get to our age and look back over your life, you can’t imagine ever being able to predict how it would go at the age of 18. Mine has turned out pretty darn good. And I can pretty much attribute it to one thing I did in high school.

I never had one of those “OH WOW” moments in high school. I was, at best, a mediocre student. I didn’t play sports nor was I in any of the school clubs. I knew I was not college bound after graduation and I didn’t want to be drafted into the Army. I decided to join the Air Force. I came from an Air Force family. I had two older brothers that had been in the Air Force along with two uncles who were retired. The one thing I did in high school that affected my life the most was taking the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Test which qualified me for the Air Force.

I was able to select a career field that I loved. I became an Aircraft Loadmaster. It is an enlisted aircrew position which meant I was able to fly on cargo transport aircraft. My job was to supervise the loading and unloading of cargo and passengers and calculate the weight and balance of the aircraft to ensure it was within the limits to safely takeoff, fly, and land.

With exception of a one-year tour in Viet Nam (which really wasn’t all that bad), I was able to fly to countries that most people only dream about. I have flown to six of the seven continents (missed Antarctica). After four years on active duty, I got out and joined the Air Force Reserve. I continued to fly the same aircraft at the same California base and travel around the world. This is also where I met my wonderful wife Rose with whom I have been married to for more than 35 years. We

both have sons from our previous marriages along with four wonderful grandchildren.

And through my Air Force experience and connections, I was able to get a job with Civil Service at this same base. And after many years working there I was afforded the opportunity to go to work for the McDonnell Douglas Corporation in Huntington Beach, California. In 1997, they merged with the Boeing Company and retained the Boeing name. I held several positions there and enjoyed most of them. Through using my GI bill and company supported education funding, I was able to finish college and get my BS in Industrial Technology which afforded me the opportunity to work in several engineering positions including logistics engineering, product support engineering, mechanical and structural engineering design and analysis and packaging engineering. I have worked on the Boeing 787 aircraft at the Charleston, SC factory as well as the Delta II and Delta IV rockets and the newest rocket, the Space Launch System which to carry humans to Mars.

In March of 2000, we decided to leave California and moved to the Huntsville, Alabama area with Boeing. And that is where we retired in 2016 and are currently living. We both spent nearly 30 years with Boeing and I spent 23 years with the Air Force and Air Force Reserve and am now retired from that as well.

So, as I look back, I think I can say that taking that test in high school and joining the Air Force was the one thing that affected my life the most.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.