Richard Naylor - K5LRS (SK)
I live in Northwest Arkansas with my wife on five acres just outside Fayetteville near the Ozark National Forest, Wedington Unit. My wife and I have been married for fifty-two years now. I retired from the U.S. Postal Service in 2014 after twenty-eight years as a rural mail carrier. My wife is a retired LPN-CST from one of the local hospitals. We have two children, a son and a daughter. My son is an electrical engineer and my daughter has a degree in Landscape Architecture, but works in the education field. Each of our children has three children making us six grandchildren, but no great-grandchildren yet. They all live nearby. I hunt, fish, ride motorcycles and play on the radio. I also have a pilot’s license, but haven’t flown in awhile due to a loss in my hearing and unable to pass a flight physical. My wife is a crafter and fairly good genealogist in her retirement. I am an old Eagle Scout and was a scoutmaster for more than twenty-five years.
I joined the U.S. Air Force in 1960. According to many, I was picked for the second best job in the Air Force next to being a pilot, and that was Air Traffic Control. Spent basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas and did my technical training at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, where I received my training as a 27230B GCA controller.
After technical school, I was sent to Sheppard AFB at Wichita Falls, Texas, were I earned my 5 level in the GCA unit. Sheppard AFB was a SAC base when I was there and home to sixteen B-52 heavy bombers. There was also an advanced pilot training base there as well.
In December of 1962, I was sent to Incirlik AB, Adana, Turkey to work in the RAPCON unit there. However, when I arrived, there was no RAPCON or radar of any kind. I was transferred to the tower and got rated there and then, like magic, a mobile RAPCON showed up and I was transferred to it. Interestingly enough, I spent a year in that unit, alone, as no other radar operators were ever sent to Incirlik until after I left in July of 1964. It was just me and one technician. There is a lot more to this story than I can tell here, but I will say this: When I was at Incirlik, it was still a Black Ops base for U-2’s and EC-130’s. I was honorably discharged at Carswell AFB, Texas in July of 1964.
I earned my first ham ticket in 1958 as a junior in high school after I had joined the school ham club. I let it lapse due to working, going to school and playing high school baseball. While at Incirlik I obtained what the FCC called a “conditional” license which was a general ticket without the Morse code requirement because there was no one to give the Morse code test. When I got back to the U.S., I took the Morse code portion of the test and received my general ticket. For more than forty years, I primarily ran RTTY with two Model 19 radio teletype machines, but actually like all facets of the hobby.
Current station is a Yaesu FT-1000MP, Heathkit SA-2060 tuner, Ameritron AL-811H amplifier, and an assortment of antennas.
Sadly, Rich passed away on 10 JUNE 2023 following surgery on his heart. We will miss you, Rich!
Here is a link to Rich's obituary.