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Today's Featured Biography

DeWayne Currier

Out of school I joined the Vermont Air National Guard in 1979. Spent about a year-and-a-half there and enlisted in the Air Force in 1981. In the Air Guard I was an aircraft mechanic and worked on EB-57, T-33, and F-4 aircraft. At my first duty station in the Air Force (Beale AFN in northern California 1981-1984) I maintained T-38 training jets. I met my wife, Sally (she was also in the Air Force) at Beale AFB, and we were married in 1984 in Reno, Nevada.

After Beale AFB, we were both assigned to Plattsburgh AFB. We were there from 1984 to 1989. At Plattsburgh, Sally worked in the Security Police Squadron, and I maintained FB-111 bombers and KC-135 tankers. Both of our boys were born while we were at Plattsburgh.

In 1989 we left for Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Sally worked in a Communication Squadron, and I fixed F-16 fighters. We had a good time in Germany. It was a historically significant time to be there, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of communism, and the reunification of Germany. Unfortunately, while stationed in Germany I was separated from the Air Force with a disability. Bummer, but the Air force and the Veterans Administration did me right - I went back to school and obtained and aircraft mechanics license from the Federal Aviation Administration, and a bachelor and masters degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I completed the bachelor degree in 1994 and the masters in 1996. During I that time I worked as an aircraft mechanic in Germany, and California, while going to school. I also did some work for the Veterans Administration helping military people leaving the service in finding civilian employment in a work-study program while I was going to school. That was extremely rewarding work.

In 1992 we bugged out of Germany and went back to Beale AFB. Sally worked in the base personnel office and later in a supply squadron. I wrapped up school and worked on airplanes, again, this time light aircraft and Boeing 727 airliners being used as cargo aircraft by DHL. Since our boys were older, we were treated to their playing youth soccer and little league baseball. As a family we were also involved in scouting. In 1996, Sally was reassigned to Edwards AFB in southern California. She was assigned to reactivated SR-71 spy plane unit - Detachment 2. This bird, folks, is other worldly. Its engines emit surreal howl, and it can fly at speeds in excess of Mach-3 at altitudes well above 85,000 feet. I was green with envy - I would have loved to have been given the opportunity to work on the world's highest flying and fastest jet. Imagine coast-to-coast in 55-minutes. That's how fast the SR-71 was. Oh well, so much for envy.

When I first got to Edwards AFB, I worked for a number of companies in nearby Mojave, California. I did heavy maintenance on Boeing 727's, and on Lockheed L-1011's. I also worked briefly turning F-4 Phantom fighters into unmanned target drone aircraft; sad fate for such a glorious machine.

Late in 1996 my fortunes changed for something much better. I was hired by the Lockheed "Skunkworks" to do heavy maintenance and engineering support on the F-117 Stealth - a really neat jet. It would look right at home in a Stars Wars movie with Darth Vader flying the thing. But this ain't the movies - real is better; like I said - a really neat jet. I did that for 5-years, then I was hired to do company audit work using the AS9100 quality standard as the guide. I did this work for two years.
While at Edwards my sons went from soccer to youth and high school football. Those had to be some of the best years watching my sons grow up. In their last season (2002) with the Desert High School Scorpions, they had a 13-1 season. They were undefeated in league. Not bad.

In 2003, with advent of my wife retiring from the Air force, the Currier clan moved to Texas. YEE-HAW!!!! Yes, we like it here. Lockheed transferred me to the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) on which I've worked as a systems engineer for the last three years. I will soon be transferred to the F-22 program, where I will work giving engineering and maintenance support to aircraft deployed with the Air Force. I'll still be in Texas for this job.

Life for all these years has been good. My eldest son will soon be married. Who knows, I may be called "grandpa" in the not too distant future - time does fly. Our youngest will be getting out into the world in the near future. We have a nice home with a number of cats underfoot. I'm still indulging myself in my hobbies of telescope making and astronomy. And, despite the fact I now wear braces on my lower legs I still get around well enough to enjoy fishing and hunting. I just go at my own pace. Life truly is, and has been, good.

If all y'all are ever down here in Texas, and you're in the local area, we'll toss a possum or an armadillo on the grill and show you a little Texas hospitality. Well, maybe not possum or armadillo. I prefer steak!

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