Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "loadmaster"

I graduated from high school in May 1979 and decided not to go to college. I didn't know what I wanted to do in life anyway, so why waste money in attending college just for the sake of attending? It turned out that the only thing really being wasted was my life. And, I wasn't the only one to notice. My parents, especially my dad, were getting tired of seeing me flounder and also tired of me living in their house as I neared 20 years old.

By December I was still living at home and working at a local drug store. Dad had frequently suggested I join the military but that sounded like a horrible idea. I mean, the only thing I didn't like about living at home was Mom and Dad telling me what to do. The military sounded to me like a whole lot more of the same. However, Dad told me a story one day that caught my interest.



Dad said that, when he was in the Air Force in the late 1950s, he was sent on a temporary assignment to Puerto Rico. During the several hour flight in the cargo plane from his base in Texas, he had the opportunity to spend time with the plane's loadmaster. He learned that the loadmaster loved his job, which consisted of supervising the rear of the plane (cargo and passengers). He especially enjoyed having visited over 30 countries in four years of flying.

Dad then encouraged me to talk to an Air Force recruiter about being a loadmaster, but I instantly thought about basic training and how awful that would be. I declined. But, Dad persisted by saying that maybe I could just listen to the recruiter and make a decision at a later time, so I agreed.

My dad and I went to the U. S. Air Force Recruiting Office in nearby Fort Wayne where the recruiter explained the loadmaster position to me as well as the requirements for getting the job. One of those requirements was to score high enough on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) and he suggested I take it. He said there was no commitment involved but, without the test, there was no sense in continuing to discuss being a loadmaster, so I agreed.

My ASVAB score was high enough to be considered, so the recruiter told me that I should take the required physical examination at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Indianapolis. He said there was no committment involved but, without passing the physical, there was no sense in continuing to discuss being a loadmaster, so I agreed.

On December 31, 1979, I traveled to Indianapolis where, along with several other recruits, we took the physical exam. After passing, we were herded into a room with a podium in front of a couple dozen chairs. There were flags on each side of the podium making it look very official. We were told that we were in the room because we had passed the physical and were now going to be given the opportunity to enlist. Somehow, this whole process seemed orchestrated from the start. I knew the most logical thing to do was to decline the enlistment and go home and think about it so that I could make a rational decision. But, I also knew what the decision would be. My life had no purpose the way it was and the Air Force offered the opportunity for adventure and excitement, as well as the opportunity to make a difference in the world. I made the decision, took the oath and was placed on delayed enlisted that day.

On April 11, 1980, I returned to MEPS for in-processing. Unfortunately, my suitcase didn't make the trip as I'd left it at the bus station back home. My parents made a special 200-mile round trip just to bring it to me. The next day I flew off to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to begin the adventure (see All-Expense Paid Vacation in Sunny San Antonio!).

It's been many years now since I was in the Air Force, but I think about it often. I was able to visit more than 30 countries in four years, just as the loadmaster years before had done. Not only that, there were many adventures that I'll never forget (see International Incident, International Incident, Part 2 , and In-Flight Emergency!). I'm proud of my service and miss that time in my life. I would encourage any young person who doesn't have a plan for what to do with his or her life to consider the military. It can be a very rewarding experience.

Wouldn't it be scary to discover the person piloting your airplane had never done it before, had no training and had no idea what he was doing? That's exactly what happened one night in the early 1980s in a US Air Force C-141 Starlifter over the Mediterranean Sea.

Our crew was flying across the sea from Cairo to Athens with a load of cargo and just a few passengers. Like me, our plane was about 20 years old. I was the loadmaster. I was responsible for the on and off-loading, figuring the center of gravity and supervising passengers. So, unless we had passengers, my job was usually over once the plane took off. On this particular flight, it was late at night and the few passengers on board were sleeping. This meant some down time for me.

I climbed into the cockpit and sat in the jump seat. This was a small seat between and just behind the pilots' seats. I liked to do this because I felt more a part of the crew when I wasn't isolated in the back. Plus, I could see out the windows much better, although being over the sea at this time of night meant seeing only blackness.

After some time the flight engineer, who sat directly behind the co-pilot, got up to stretch his legs or use the bathroom. In his absence, the pilot, who also served as the aircraft commander, sat down at the engineer's panel. This was a panel full of gauges monitoring systems such hydraulics, pressurization, fuel, etc... It is my understanding that the aircraft commander must be qualified at this and every position on the plane, so we were not in any danger as he began adjusting things.



I said, "If the pilot can be the engineer, I think the loadmaster should be the pilot!" Of course I was kidding as I had no idea how to fly that airplane, nor did I want to. But the pilot, whose name I would not reveal even if I did remember it, said, "Sit down, Buddy," while pointing to the pilot's seat. I then started backpedaling saying, "I was just kidding. I wouldn't even know what to do." "Don't worry," he said, "I'll help you."

So, I sat down in the pilot's seat. In front of me was the yoke that looks somewhat like half a steering wheel and beside me to the right were the four throttle control levers, one for each of the jet engines. Behind the yoke was an array of gauges, one of which was a brown and white ball with an image of the airplane superimposed on it to indicate our position in relation to the horizon. All of these were intimidating to me.

After a few moments I realized I was doing pretty well as the plane was cruising along just as it had been. The pilot then disconnected the auto-pilot but, even then, the aircraft remained stable. I said, "This is easier than I thought." He said, "Why don't you turn your wheel just a little?" I did as he said and suddenly the airplane not only turned in that direction, but stated to fall from the sky! He said, "Now, increase the power." I pushed the throttles forward and the plane started to climb. He then instructed me to turn the airplane back to the direction we'd been going but, as I did this, it began to fall again. The brown and white ball was now in full wobble. I increased power again which caused me, and likely everyone else on board, to feel as if we were going to throw up. It was like an out-of-control roller coaster seven miles above the Earth! All the while, the pilot was calmly speaking to the Egyptian air-traffic controllers as if everything was normal. I wondered how a pilot could possibly keep all this under control while at the same time trying to decipher their poor English.

I told the pilot that I'd had enough of this adventure and asked if he would take over. After switching positions, I told him that I very much appreciated the experience but I didn't need to do that again. I returned to the cargo compartment where I felt much more comfortable. I found the previously sleeping passengers now awake and wondering if we'd had to avoid an especially bad storm. I explained that there had been a new pilot gaining some experience under the close supervision of the aircraft commander and they were never in danger. I wondered if that were true.