Double time; wing Airman logs 40-plus years of service

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Raymond F. Padgett
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  One of the perks offered by military recruiters is the ability to retire after 20 years of service. One officer with the 920th Rescue Wing has more than twice that experience and is still serving today. 

Lt. Col. Rex Meyer, deputy officer in charge of the base command post, started his Air Force adventure by enlisting 40 years ago on March 18, 1968. "Hey Jude," by the Beatles and "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay," by Otis Redding were among the top 10 songs. "Laugh In," was the number one television show and just 36 months prior, the United States had begun sending troops to a far off place called Vietnam. 

Airman Meyer, a maintenance squadron crew chief, was deployed to Uban Air Base Thailand where they launched F-4D phantom fighter aircraft nicknamed the 'Night Owls.' 

"Our aircraft flew most of the night missions to support the operations over Vietnam. The bottoms of the planes were painted black and they flew with no lights on," he said. 

After returning stateside, Colonel Meyer filled other enlisted billets such as flight line expediter, night shift maintenance superintendent and Air Force advisor to the Michigan Air National Guard. With 15 years of enlisted service under his belt, he was commissioned in 1983 under the Deserving Airman Commissioning Program as a maintenance officer. 

Sometimes timing is everything, and in 1986 a fellow squadron member had put in for the Aircraft Mishap Investigation course at Norton Air Force Base, Calif. and the Reserve Command was allocated a slot for the class. The other officer could not attend. 

"I had no interest in attending the class," he said. "But I was a team player, so when the commander asked I volunteered. Now it's my life's dream, and I have investigated more than 50 aircraft accidents. In a perfect world it is what I would do for a living," he said. 

Colonel Meyer was the senior Department of Defense accident investigator on site of the 1996 crash of Valuejet Flight 592, where he spent 42 straight days in the Florida Everglades trying to help determine the cause of the accident that claimed 110 lives. 

Colonel Meyer's maintenance career in the Air Force Reserve placed him as maintenance control officer, maintenance squadron commander and as the deputy chief of maintenance. He also has served as chief of combat plans, wing executive officer and now resides as the deputy officer-in-charge of the combined Patrick Air Force Base command post. 

When asked about changes he has seen in his 40 years of service, Colonel Meyer reported that today's young troops are more educated, more intelligent and more vocal than when he enlisted. 

"If a noncommissioned officer said to do something, it was like God said to do it--no questions," he said. "Today when an Airman is given a task, they analyze the process involved and determine the best way to get it done resulting in a leaner, smarter Air Force." 

Colonel Meyer has served under eight different presidents and said he has noticed the change in the mood of the country as a whole towards the military. 

"I was never spit on or anything, but when I returned from Southeast Asia I knew a negative view toward military members existed. You were not directly confronted, but you were shunned by the civilian population. Now, when I go downtown in my uniform, people come up to me and thank me for my service," Colonel Meyers said. 

The other major change he has seen is the integration among the active duty Air Force, the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard. 

"In 1975, we all wore the same uniform, but there was no interface or interaction between the units. We have moved light years ahead in the 'one team - one fight' concept and many times you can't tell if the person working next to you is active, Guard or Reserve," the colonel said. 

Along the way, Colonel Meyer has also earned his airframe and powerplant license, his private pilot's license and is an instructor's rescue diver for the Professional Association of Diving. He is very active with the Civil Air Patrol and has been on their headquarters staff since 2005. 

He retired in 2005 from the civil service after more than 36 years but continues to serve with the 920th Rescue Wing at least for the time being. "I've spent the last seven months working on the consolidation of the active duty and reserve command post here at Patrick and want to leave the job totally complete and seamless," he said. 

That may put him in his 41st year of military service ... but who's counting?