WEBVTT 00:01.309 --> 00:03.990 My name is Dave Hedinger . Uh , the 00:03.990 --> 00:06.019 dates I was here often 00:07.550 --> 00:11.220 arrived on the 17th of February of 1984 , 00:11.720 --> 00:13.909 stayed until 1989 , went away for a 00:13.909 --> 00:17.190 couple of years , came back in 1991 and 00:17.190 --> 00:20.870 stayed until 1994 . Uh right . 00:20.879 --> 00:24.739 I came in as a second lieutenant , um , 00:24.750 --> 00:26.917 main captain here , and I came back as 00:26.917 --> 00:29.670 a captain . And my promotion board was 00:29.670 --> 00:31.950 here during that time and I was a major 00:31.950 --> 00:35.430 select when I left . A little bit of 00:35.430 --> 00:37.486 my history . How did I come into the 00:37.486 --> 00:40.110 Air Force ? I think it's an interesting 00:40.110 --> 00:42.470 story for the Air Force in that my 00:42.470 --> 00:45.110 dad's best friend was a Marine Corps 00:45.110 --> 00:48.950 pilot A6 pilot , and I went to see him 00:48.950 --> 00:51.869 at Cherry Point when I was transferring 00:51.869 --> 00:53.980 schools from the south to the north , 00:53.980 --> 00:56.091 and I stopped at Cherry Point , North 00:56.091 --> 00:58.439 Carolina . And uh went out to the 00:58.439 --> 01:02.180 flight line and sat in his jet , and I 01:02.180 --> 01:04.402 didn't have the eyesight to go to pilot 01:04.402 --> 01:06.624 training back then . They required 2020 01:06.624 --> 01:09.169 uncorrected vision and at that time 01:09.169 --> 01:11.209 he's explaining what the navigator 01:11.209 --> 01:13.431 would do because that's what I would be 01:13.431 --> 01:15.376 if I want to fly for their for the 01:15.376 --> 01:17.542 Marine Corps or any of the services at 01:17.542 --> 01:19.765 that time . And he , he's talking to me 01:19.765 --> 01:21.931 because I , I love being in the Marine 01:21.931 --> 01:24.098 Corps , but anytime that we fly around 01:24.098 --> 01:26.809 the country , we always go drop into an 01:26.809 --> 01:28.920 Air Force base because you're treated 01:28.920 --> 01:31.430 like a king . That wasn't quite true , 01:31.540 --> 01:34.180 but compared to the other services , we 01:34.180 --> 01:36.410 were treated really well . So on that 01:36.410 --> 01:38.540 day I decided if I was going to join 01:38.540 --> 01:40.707 the military and I wanted to because I 01:40.707 --> 01:42.929 did want to serve my country that I was 01:42.929 --> 01:45.096 going to go into the United States Air 01:45.096 --> 01:47.318 Force . And so I did that after college 01:47.318 --> 01:49.739 went through OTS and then through NA 01:49.739 --> 01:51.906 school electronic warfare school , and 01:51.906 --> 01:54.128 then I arrived there at all , as I said 01:54.128 --> 01:57.889 in February of 1984 . Wonderful 01:57.889 --> 02:01.010 memories as an electronic warfare 02:01.010 --> 02:04.199 officer in the 343 . At that time it 02:04.199 --> 02:07.519 was only electronic warfare officers . 02:07.730 --> 02:09.841 There were two squadrons in our inner 02:09.841 --> 02:12.729 building there and one side was the 02:12.729 --> 02:15.009 pilots of the NAS and the other side 02:15.009 --> 02:16.787 was just the electronic warfare 02:16.787 --> 02:18.898 officers . I did every different type 02:18.898 --> 02:21.120 of job there , you know , come in , you 02:21.120 --> 02:23.600 get checked out as a Raven 3 upgrade to 02:23.600 --> 02:25.767 a Raven 2 , become an instructor , and 02:25.767 --> 02:29.199 then I became an evaluator . And um my 02:29.199 --> 02:32.080 last job there before I transitioned 02:32.080 --> 02:35.880 out in '89 , I was uh I was in stand 02:35.880 --> 02:37.936 about , but actually prior to that I 02:37.936 --> 02:40.750 was the executive officer for two 02:40.750 --> 02:42.861 individuals , wonderful individuals , 02:42.861 --> 02:45.039 and I hope you interview them . One is 02:45.039 --> 02:47.206 Colonel Smith at the time , Lieutenant 02:47.206 --> 02:48.983 Colonel Smith , and the other , 02:49.080 --> 02:51.302 Lieutenant Colonel Falcamp and again he 02:51.302 --> 02:54.009 retires as a colonel as well . During 02:54.009 --> 02:56.449 that time in '89 , I was deciding , hey , 02:56.529 --> 02:58.696 I need to get out off it . You need to 02:58.696 --> 03:00.696 go somewhere else to do something . 03:00.696 --> 03:02.640 Actually , I was going to go up to 03:02.640 --> 03:05.330 Alaska to Shia and be on there for a 03:05.330 --> 03:07.552 year or 18 months , whatever it was , I 03:07.552 --> 03:09.774 can't remember , and be part of their . 03:10.550 --> 03:13.490 I can't remember what the position was , 03:13.550 --> 03:15.383 but they kind of monitor mission 03:15.383 --> 03:18.179 monitor there out at Shia . But at the 03:18.179 --> 03:20.389 same time I put in for what we call a 03:20.960 --> 03:23.182 SATA exchange , strategic Air Command , 03:23.182 --> 03:25.182 tactical Air Command , and they had 03:25.182 --> 03:27.349 this program where they would take one 03:27.349 --> 03:29.571 navigator or electronic warfare officer 03:29.830 --> 03:32.910 a year and put in for it . And because 03:32.910 --> 03:35.440 of the 343 and the missions we flew 03:35.440 --> 03:37.699 with the hours that we got . The jobs 03:37.699 --> 03:40.100 that I had , it was pretty easy to kind 03:40.100 --> 03:42.580 of float to the top versus other 03:42.580 --> 03:44.636 weapons systems out there because we 03:44.636 --> 03:48.050 are operational and B-52s or other 03:48.050 --> 03:50.161 programs that were or weapons systems 03:50.161 --> 03:52.328 that had navigators . They just didn't 03:52.328 --> 03:54.383 have what we were able to do . So at 03:54.383 --> 03:56.606 the end of the day , I ended up getting 03:56.606 --> 03:59.570 a SATA exchange and went off to fly F4G 03:59.570 --> 04:02.449 wild weasels . I did that for a couple 04:02.449 --> 04:04.860 of years . Unfortunately for me , or 04:04.860 --> 04:06.749 fortunately because it turned out 04:06.749 --> 04:08.749 really well . At the end of the two 04:08.749 --> 04:10.804 years , it was right after the war , 04:10.804 --> 04:13.130 and they decided to move the F4G wild 04:13.130 --> 04:15.770 weasel off to the guard . And so I was 04:15.770 --> 04:17.603 kind of without a job in a sense 04:17.603 --> 04:20.489 because all the other wizos or Ewos at 04:20.489 --> 04:23.970 that time in the in the weasel , they 04:23.970 --> 04:25.970 were intact and so they're going to 04:25.970 --> 04:28.137 take care of those individuals first , 04:28.137 --> 04:30.410 but I was just kind of anomaly , so to 04:30.410 --> 04:32.466 speak , and so what happened at that 04:32.466 --> 04:34.521 point I went to The personnel center 04:34.521 --> 04:36.577 had a buddy of ours down there , Rob 04:36.577 --> 04:38.910 Garza , he was a major at the time said , 04:38.910 --> 04:40.910 Hey , Rob , you know this is what's 04:40.910 --> 04:43.021 happening . He goes , We'll take care 04:43.021 --> 04:44.966 of you . So I got sent back to the 04:44.966 --> 04:47.929 3:43rd again and got checked out . At 04:47.929 --> 04:50.660 that time , I was in I came back and I 04:50.660 --> 04:53.829 went to one of the rooms . And there 04:53.829 --> 04:55.885 was an advertisement , so to speak , 04:55.885 --> 04:57.996 and it said , hey , we're looking for 04:57.996 --> 04:59.607 an executive officer over in 04:59.607 --> 05:01.607 maintenance . And I'm like , well , 05:01.607 --> 05:03.940 I've already done every job here at the , 05:03.940 --> 05:05.996 at the 343rd that I thought of , and 05:05.996 --> 05:08.162 I'm like , yeah , I know nothing about 05:08.162 --> 05:10.385 maintenance . Let me , let me go be a . 05:10.385 --> 05:12.273 It's exact . So I went over and I 05:12.273 --> 05:15.570 interviewed with the colonel over there 05:16.299 --> 05:20.179 and actually one was Colonel Reggie 05:20.179 --> 05:22.500 Reggie Stewart , who was actually the 05:22.500 --> 05:24.611 deputy and I walked in the office and 05:24.611 --> 05:26.739 that it wasn't an interview my call 05:26.739 --> 05:29.540 signs He cut my name in half and they 05:29.540 --> 05:31.540 come up with Heiny , so I've always 05:31.540 --> 05:33.596 been called that unfortunately , but 05:33.596 --> 05:35.707 it's stuck and it is what it is . And 05:35.707 --> 05:37.984 so he goes , Hey , Hein , you're hired . 05:37.984 --> 05:40.207 And so literally the next day I start . 05:40.207 --> 05:42.484 And I did that for a year . After that , 05:42.484 --> 05:44.950 I became Chief of Staal . At that point , 05:45.839 --> 05:48.239 I knew I was going to make major and I 05:48.239 --> 05:50.517 had a friend over there , Chris Halste , 05:50.519 --> 05:52.686 who was an exec over there on his long 05:52.686 --> 05:54.908 story . I she was here , you could tell 05:54.908 --> 05:57.119 his story , but he was retiring from 05:57.119 --> 05:59.119 the Air Force and he goes , Hey , I 05:59.119 --> 06:01.397 think you should come over and do this . 06:01.397 --> 06:03.452 I'm like , I don't need to do that . 06:03.452 --> 06:05.675 I've never been an exec . I've done all 06:05.675 --> 06:07.730 the jobs . I don't need this job . I 06:07.730 --> 06:09.619 know I'm getting promoted . I let 06:09.619 --> 06:09.209 somebody else . He goes , No , we 06:09.209 --> 06:11.720 really think you should be the wing 06:11.720 --> 06:14.649 exec . And so I ended up being the wing 06:14.649 --> 06:18.250 exec for an individual at the time was 06:18.250 --> 06:20.369 a one star Tom Cat who ended up 06:20.369 --> 06:22.489 becoming a 3 star , one of the finest 06:22.489 --> 06:24.790 Air Force officers I've ever met in my 06:24.790 --> 06:27.760 entire life . And from there I went to 06:27.760 --> 06:29.760 naval command staff and then I went 06:29.760 --> 06:32.119 down to Central Command and did 3 years 06:32.119 --> 06:34.839 of a tour down there and I'll just put 06:34.839 --> 06:38.000 2 more assignments in a sense because 06:38.000 --> 06:41.869 it kind of relates back to the 55th 06:41.869 --> 06:44.820 wing here . When I was at SEO , I 06:44.820 --> 06:48.170 worked in the in the area for that did 06:48.170 --> 06:50.540 all of the reconnaissance , but from 06:50.540 --> 06:53.339 there I ended up going to Randolph Air 06:53.339 --> 06:55.579 Force Base , and that's where they were 06:55.579 --> 06:58.059 standing back up the electronic warfare 06:58.059 --> 07:00.779 squadron which was going to get moved 07:00.779 --> 07:03.929 from Pensacola , Florida , and so we 07:03.929 --> 07:05.985 stood up the squadron . I became the 07:05.985 --> 07:08.318 ops officer there for a year and a half , 07:08.318 --> 07:10.570 and then I was . commander there for a 07:10.570 --> 07:12.681 year and a half and then after that , 07:12.681 --> 07:14.514 so with that , about half of our 07:14.514 --> 07:16.737 students going through that EO training 07:16.880 --> 07:19.559 ended up going to the 55th and fly in 07:19.559 --> 07:22.809 RC-135s , all the different variants , 07:22.829 --> 07:25.320 and so I had a connection there . Then 07:25.320 --> 07:27.431 after that I went to school again and 07:27.431 --> 07:29.559 then I went to the Pentagon , did a 07:29.559 --> 07:32.320 couple of years there . not the most 07:32.320 --> 07:34.470 fun job , but boy oh boy , you learn 07:34.470 --> 07:37.239 everything about the DOD , not just 07:37.239 --> 07:39.128 about the Air Force . So it was a 07:39.128 --> 07:41.350 wonderful two years in that respect . I 07:41.350 --> 07:43.572 was happy to leave . I put in for a job 07:43.572 --> 07:46.720 to be the professor of aero studies 07:46.720 --> 07:49.239 professor of aerospace studies . Thank 07:49.239 --> 07:51.730 you at Penn State University right 07:51.730 --> 07:54.160 there . And so that was my last 3 years 07:54.160 --> 07:56.327 in the Air Force , and the great thing 07:56.327 --> 07:58.493 about that , I was around cadets for 3 07:58.493 --> 08:00.716 years , some of which then end up going 08:00.716 --> 08:03.320 to the RC-135 , and every once in a 08:03.320 --> 08:05.376 while I see one of those individuals 08:05.376 --> 08:07.487 that either are pilots that are flown 08:07.487 --> 08:09.760 the RC-135 or electronic warfare 08:09.760 --> 08:13.154 officers or navigator . And so you look 08:13.154 --> 08:15.915 at my career , it's always in some form 08:15.915 --> 08:18.035 or fashion I've been around the 08:18.035 --> 08:20.595 fifty-fifth wing , and I've been all 08:20.595 --> 08:23.595 over right as a retired colonel , you 08:23.595 --> 08:25.595 end up , you have so many different 08:25.595 --> 08:27.484 assignments . You talk to so many 08:27.484 --> 08:29.539 different , there's nothing like the 08:29.539 --> 08:31.428 55th wing , so it's been a A true 08:31.428 --> 08:33.539 blessing when I got my assignment . I 08:33.539 --> 08:35.484 had no idea when it came down with 08:35.484 --> 08:37.595 assignment nights that I was going to 08:37.595 --> 08:39.817 RC-135 and off at Air Force Base , like 08:39.817 --> 08:42.039 you've got to be kidding me . Where the 08:42.039 --> 08:44.262 heck Omaha you really got to be kidding 08:44.262 --> 08:47.390 me . But boy oh boy , I've never , what 08:47.390 --> 08:51.229 a wonderful environment just Omaha was 08:51.229 --> 08:53.469 they loved the military and then to be 08:53.469 --> 08:55.747 so blessed to be part of the 55th wing . 08:56.630 --> 08:57.150 Thank you .