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I was then rotated to shore duty at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia from 1983-1987. I didn't have much time or incentive to think about it again. I was an active member of the Auxiliary Security Force for the base, and spent most of my free time Bass and Bluegill fishing on one of four man made lakes. When I was discharged, I went to work for Virginia Power's Surry Nuclear Power Plant as a security officer. There I stayed for 2 1/2 years working the swing shift. In my spare time, I was helping a CWO4 retired Naval Officer build his log home. That took up most of my week-ends. But, I was starting to miss home, so I moved back to Minnesota. I took a job as a maintenance worker at Water Heater Innovations, a new production company that branched off from Ecowater Inc. The company has since been bought by and is now a Subsidiary of Rheem Manufacturing. Here I eventually became the Plant Wide Supervisor for the night shift in charge of production and maintenance. I joined the Naval Reserves in 1994-1998. At that time, the budget was tight for the military, and we spent a lot of time in classrooms. I did manage to get to go on the USS Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier for two weeks training. There I discovered I was still interested in somehow trying to get the opportunity to fly. But, I didn't like classrooms all the time so I got out. When 9-11 happened, I was so grief stricken and angry, I wanted to take on the war on Terrorism myself. I rejoined the Naval Reserves, this time as a Utilitiesman in the Seabees. We mainly worked on projects around the Minneapolis Navy and Marine Reserve Center. I had the opportunity to go to Rota, Spain for thirty days training in 2002. There I had the pleasure to work for and shoot with the Navy Seal detachment that was stationed there. I also went to Guam in 2003, and 2004. While training there I earned my Advanced Scuba Diver certification. We were fortunate enough to get a thirty minute ride around Guam in one of the Navy's search and rescue helicopters. Once again, the urge to fly was back. But, in November of 2005, I heard that Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25 was getting ready to mobilize to Iraq. I knew that I had to go and do my part. I transferred into the battalion in December of 2005, and was on my way to Port Hueneme, Ca. for training. My wife, also being in the reserves understood. In March 2006, I was in Kuwait for training. I was assigned to a convoy as the gunner in a Hummvee, due to my vast weapons experience. Part of our training, was to convoy from Kuwait to Al Asad, Iraq in the Al Anbar region. We trained for and found some IED's ( Improvised Explosive Devices). We encountered many dangerous situations and held meetings to make sure that no one felt like they could not do their job. We had many chances to get off the convoy. I felt I was better trained to be the Gunner than anybody else so, I stayed and performed my duties to the best of my ability. On the morning of June 05, 2006, we were on our way back to Al Asad having just delivered our building materials to Al Qaidam, when the Hummvee I was riding in hit a very powerful I.E.D. The force of that I.E.D was so strong, it shredded and lifted our hummvee off the ground. I was violently ejected about 30 feet high and 100 yards down the road landing in the sand. One of my buddies was thrown out the side passenger door shattering his shoulder. Sadly, I lost my driver and room mate, my Corpsman and good friend, and all of our medical supplies. I sustained severe injuries to my back and lower extremities. I would later learn that I had split my right pelvis, burst my L3 lumbar, and have L2 and L4 fused with a cage and 4 rods for support, sheared off part of my right femur, broke both bones in left leg, dislocated right knee, 3 torn ligaments, and fractured both feet. I was medivaced to Al Asad for emergency exploratory surgery. I was then airlifted to Germany, stabilized and airlifted right to Naval Hospital Bethesda, Maryland. There, I underwent 9 surgeries and spent 3 months recovery and physical therapy. I was then transferred to the Minneapolis, Minnesota Veterans Hospital where I underwent 4 more surgeries and extensive physical therapy. I spent 3 months at the VA. In my spare time, I was reading Sport Pilot magazines and was determined to somehow get my pilots license. After checking some of the local flight schools, I was looking at Pilot profiles and noticed that one instructor from LSA North, named Tyra Cerny was also a Physical Therapist. I set up a meeting and knew instantly that Tyra, was going to be my ground school instructor. Now, I just had to figure out how I was going to afford flight lessons. Then Tyra told me about a student who applied for and received a scholarship from Able Flight. I immediately put in an application and ordered my Sport Pilot training kit. I was at least going to go through ground training to keep me preoccupied. When I learned that Able Flight was able to get me a scholarship from East Cooper Pilots Association, I felt that there was no stopping me now. Able Flight, and East Coopers Pilot Association has been instrumental in assuring I have the best training aids possible. The King's DVD'S are phenomenal, the Sennheiser headset is great and comfortable to wear. The flying lessons are going great and I am having a blast learning the intimate details of flying a plane. My instructor for the ground school, Tyra Cerny, is also a dedicated and valuable asset to my lessons. I report all of my physical therapy progress to Tyra, who will not let me do anything I am not supposed to and physically not ready to do. I appreciate that kind of dedication. My goal is take the written test by the end of February. Now, you know my story, and I will continue to update this blog. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this possible. And thanks to all who are reading and following this blog. Sincerely, Click here to return to Ken's daily flight training blog. |
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