George Lawrence - KD6SX

I was born in 1942 and grew up in New Castle, PA. I got my Novice license while in high school in 1958 but got interested in other things and did not upgrade. I got licensed again in 1973 while on active duty with the Air Force and have been very active ever since.  I operate mostly CW.

I enlisted in the Air Force in 1963 and was sent to basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas. While in basic training, I applied for the Aviation Cadet program, was accepted and, upon completion of basic training, was assigned to navigator training at James Connelly AFB near Waco, Texas. I graduated from the Aviation Cadet program in 1964 and was then sent to navigator-bombardier training at Mather AFB, California, then to survival training at Stead AFB, Nevada, then to Castle AFB, California for my B-52 upgrade training and, finally, to my first permanent duty station at Clinton-Sherman AFB, Oklahoma. While at Clinton-Sherman, I completed my first Arc Lite tour flying bombing missions over Southeast Asia. We flew our missions from Guam, Thailand, and Okinawa.

The photo above shows me at my radar-navigator position in a B-52D model in 1968. As you can see, I was young once. I took the picture below while being evacuated out of Okinawa during a typhoon. I was lying beside the boom operator on the KC-135 while we refueled a B-52D on its way to unload those bombs over Vietnam somewhere.

I resigned from active duty in 1968 in order to complete my college degree at Cal State in Chico, CA. I majored in Industrial Technology and, upon graduation, went to work for Pacific Gas and Electric Company at their headquarters in San Francisco. I was recalled to active duty in early 1971, sent to a B-52 refresher course at Castle AFB, and then sent to B-52H models at Grand Forks, AFB, North Dakota. While at Grand Forks, I completed another tour flying Arc Lite missions over Southeast Asia. We flew those missions from Guam and Thailand. I was grounded in 1974 due to a back injury and sent to Vandenberg AFB to complete the Minuteman Missile School. I returned to Grand Forks AFB where I was assigned as a Minuteman Missile Crew Commander. I once again resigned from active duty in 1976 and we moved to Portland, Oregon where I enrolled in seminary and graduated in 1979. I served as the pastor of a church in Santa Cruz, CA for five years and as the pastor of a church in Oroville, CA for eighteen years. I retired in 2002 and have been taking life easy since then. I am not one of those people who is busier in retirement than I was when I was working. I think I’m better at retirement than anything I’ve ever done.

It’s nice to be a part of the AFFC. I’ve enjoyed meeting you all on the radio.

73 - George Lawrence, KD6SX  AFFC#608