Leland B Ransom II – W4PUO
Life began in New York City in 1941, less than a month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The war years became part of our family story. My father doctored battle wounds in the Pacific, my uncle documented the battle on Okinawa as a combat photographer and Mom kept me and big sister in food rations at my grandparent’s farm in Pennsylvania.
In the ‘50s, my favorite model airplanes were the P-38 Lightning, the P-40 Thunderbolt, and the shark tooth P-47 Warhawk. I loved Hollywood movies about airplanes and jet engines. I graduated from Allegany High School, Cumberland, Maryland in 1959. Then it was off to college with a Novice license (WN3FXQ) and a yen to study electronics engineering. My classes were tougher than expected at Rutgers and I was very nearly sent packing. Though I did finish in 1964 with a BSEE, I found my aptitude better suited to flying. With my recently acquired private pilot license, a wife and an ROTC earned 2Lt brown bar on my shoulder, we headed off to USAF pilot training in Lubbock, Texas.
I entered fighter training at Perrin AFB, Texas in the F-102. At the end there were three of us equally ranked so we drew straws for the lone F-104 Starfighter slot. Dumb luck won me the assignment to the 319th FIS at Homestead AFB, Florida. While there I regularly flew the F-104 in air-to-air and air-to-ground gunnery, high and low altitude intercepts and in air combat maneuvers. I flew the “zoom profile” while wearing a partial pressure suit. This meant putting the aircraft into a steep climb at Mach 2 to reach altitudes in excess of 70,000 feet without stalling. Usually these flights were practice intercepts against the U2. I sat 5 minute alert three days out of nine and frequently scrambled two-ship against unknowns off the Florida coast. I also checked out in the T-33 which was used as a target ship and for calibration of coastal height finding radars.
In 1967 it was my turn in the pipeline for Vietnam. I completed checkout in the F-105D Thunderchief at Wichita, Kansas and was sent on to Nellis AFB, Nevada for Wild Weasel School. My EWO “bear”, Jim Bradley and I flew the two-seat F-105F/G equipped with sensitive electronics used to locate enemy surface to air missile sites. Finally ready for action we were diverted that summer to Kwangju, Korea following capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea. We operated there for two months before proceeding to the 333rd TFS, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand.
Meanwhile, son number one was born in February of ’69 in Wichita, Kansas. With our one year combat tour complete, Jim and I were sent to the 12th TFS at Kadena AB, Okinawa, where our families joined us. Due to a critical shortage of Wild Weasel assets in the war zone, we continued to fly combat missions with the 6010th TFS at Korat RTAB, Thailand.
In 1972, I was hired to fly the SR-71 Blackbird. Son number two was born in January of ‘72 at the US Army Hospital on Okinawa. We returned to Beale AFB in California shortly thereafter, and I was soon fully qualified in the SR-71. By the winter of ‘72 I was flying operational high-altitude Mach 3+ reconnaissance missions for SAC. In just a few years I had gained over 900 hours in that truly unique aircraft and many lifetime friends.
During the late ‘70s and ‘80s I completed a Pentagon tour, gained credentials as a program manager, commanded a T-37 training squadron, was promoted to full colonel, served a joint assignment in the DoD, got my MBA and in 1990 retired from the Air Force at Brooks AFB, San Antonio. Somewhere along the way I passed the Advanced class exam and picked up the W4PUO call sign.
In the 90’s I worked in several small businesses doing R&D, directing manufacturing operations and serving as President/CEO for a few years. Our family grew by two babies adopted from the People’s Republic of China in 2000 and 2002 and I retired again in 2003 to become a full time Dad. Sadly, cancer took my bride of 34 years in 2009.
On February 12, 2011, I married Pat Girard and we currently live in Bellville, Texas. Between us we have three sons, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
Other than amateur radio, my hobbies have included woodworking, remodeling, music (orchestra and church choir, and occasionally an experiment in the kitchen. It is great to be included in daily contact with the Air Forces Flyers Club members on 14.290.
73 - Lee Ransom, W4PUO, AFFC #593