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Eugene Church · 07-16-2022, 06:20 PM

MY LIFE IN 1958
EC's Hopin' Life is Great in '58

Joining the Air Force was not easy... it was peace time, but there was a Cold War with Russia going on quite vigorously... I went to the Air Force first to volunteer my services... took their first basic qualifying exam, but I didn't impress them very much... EC didn't do too well... it was too much mechanics for me to do well... EC is no handy man... my strengths are in vocabulary, spelling, arithmetic, history, language, general education... not mechanics... yep, EC didn't do well.

So I went to the Navy and passed their test... they wanted me... but EC likes planes better than ships... so I went back to the Air Force and told them the Navy wanted me... when I did well on the Navy test, this spurred the Air Force's interest in me... I told them I was much smarter than their preliminary test indicated... I needed a more general test that didn't concentrate on hammers, nails, tools, gears and mechanics... so they sent me to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama for a full battery of tests... I spent the weekend taking nothing but tests... when I got back, the recruiters were anxious to sign me up and send me off into the wild, blue yonder... EC had aced most of the tests at Maxwell Air Force Base... my test scores were out of sight, scoring almost perfect scores on 3 of their 5 tests... I was only average on the Electronics and Flight tests.

The Air Force said I would have to wait until September to go into training... I told them the Navy would take me right away... this gave me a little leverage... yep, it did.

So EC will be leaving soon for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas... this is June... I will be leaving around the first of July.

I know... don't it make all of you buckaroos and little darlin's want to join me in singing a chorus or two of "off we go into the wild, blue yonder"?

Come on now... at least a few of you can hum a few bars with me... this is exciting... yep, EC's gonna be a high-flying airman.

07-16-2022, 06:20 PM	#822
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,234	MY LIFE IN 1958 EC's Hopin' Life is Great in '58 Joining the Air Force was not easy... it was peace time, but there was a Cold War with Russia going on quite vigorously... I went to the Air Force first to volunteer my services... took their first basic qualifying exam, but I didn't impress them very much... EC didn't do too well... it was too much mechanics for me to do well... EC is no handy man... my strengths are in vocabulary, spelling, arithmetic, history, language, general education... not mechanics... yep, EC didn't do well. So I went to the Navy and passed their test... they wanted me... but EC likes planes better than ships... so I went back to the Air Force and told them the Navy wanted me... when I did well on the Navy test, this spurred the Air Force's interest in me... I told them I was much smarter than their preliminary test indicated... I needed a more general test that didn't concentrate on hammers, nails, tools, gears and mechanics... so they sent me to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama for a full battery of tests... I spent the weekend taking nothing but tests... when I got back, the recruiters were anxious to sign me up and send me off into the wild, blue yonder... EC had aced most of the tests at Maxwell Air Force Base... my test scores were out of sight, scoring almost perfect scores on 3 of their 5 tests... I was only average on the Electronics and Flight tests. The Air Force said I would have to wait until September to go into training... I told them the Navy would take me right away... this gave me a little leverage... yep, it did. So EC will be leaving soon for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas... this is June... I will be leaving around the first of July. I know... don't it make all of you buckaroos and little darlin's want to join me in singing a chorus or two of "off we go into the wild, blue yonder"? Come on now... at least a few of you can hum a few bars with me... this is exciting... yep, EC's gonna be a high-flying airman. Last edited by Eugene Church; 07-16-2022 at 06:30 PM.