<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
<p>I, <em>John Raymond Wing</em>, was born February 26, 1932 to Jerry and Mary Morgan (Utter) Wing at one of my aunt’s home in Woodlawn, KY. I attended Lincoln Elementary and Dayton High Schools in Dayton, KY. Growing up, I worked occasionally in my folk’s grocery store in Dayton, just long enough to learn that the customer is always right! </p>
<p>I was fortunate enough to receive a third alternate appointment to USMA in 1950 and entered the Academy with the Class of 1954. I was ill prepared academically, and in my yearling year I encountered difficulties with calculus and was turned back a year to join Company C-2 and the Class of 1955. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it gave me more time to mature and consider a career as a “lifer” in the service. I entered the Infantry upon graduation and went to Army Aviation Flight Training at Gary AFB, TX with the ‘Green Hat’ second Class of 1956; about a dozen other West Point classmates joined me there. We completed flight school at Ft. Rucker, AL in March 1956, and I reported to the 4th Armored Division at Fort Hood, TX. </p>
<p>Later, in 1956, I was assigned TDY to Fort Huachuca, AZ to participate in the testing of a Signal Corps tactical aviation navigation system. While in Douglas, AZ, I was afforded the chance to meet and marry a beautiful young lady by the name of Sheila Otis. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in September 2006, along with our five offspring—Timothy, Jeffrey, Kathy, Jay and Kelly—members of their families and friends. We returned to Fort Hood in October 1956, and I was reassigned to the Third Corps, 53rd Signal Battalion Flight Detachment. Classmate Bill Welter, also an aviator, later convinced me that the future of Army Aviation was in the Transportation Corps (TC) and that we should transfer from Infantry to Transportation and apply for graduate school to study aerospace engineering. Classmates Tom West, Dan Dugan, Bill Graham, Ben Roberts and Skip Massey apparently felt the same way about TC since they also decided to transfer branches. Aviation didn’t become a branch until April 1983, and I understand classmate Carl McNair was very instrumental in its inception.</p>
<p>My transfer to TC was approved while I was in training at the Basic Infantry Officer Course (BIOC). After BIOC, I went to Fort Eustis, VA to enter the Transportation Company Officer Course. I was then assigned to the University of Texas in Austin to study aerospace engineering. While in school it was discovered during a flight physical that I had diabetes mellitus. I went before a medical board and requested retention to continue service in the Army. My request was approved, but I was removed from flight status. After I completed school at the University of Texas, I was assigned to the Transportation Materiel Command in St. Louis, MO. Subsequent assignments included the Seventh Logistics Command, Taegu, Korea; Fort Eustis (for additional Transportation schooling); Fort Rucker, AL (where I served as an engineer for the Aviation Test Board); another tour to Korea and one to Germany; and three different tours to Edwards AFB, CA (where I served at the Army Flight Test Activity as a flight test engineer and finally retired as deputy commander in 1977). </p>
<p>I especially enjoyed my tours at Edwards because I was able to gather with Air Force and Army classmates who were assigned there. After my retirement from the service in July 1977, Sheila and I moved to San Diego, CA, where I was employed by General Dynamics, Data System Division. I later worked for Computer Sciences Corporation and retired, once and for all, in 1997. When I join the Long Gray Line, I hope to have my ashes scattered in the East Fork of the Black River in the White Mountains of Arizona, where I enjoyed numerous occasions vacationing and fishing.</p>
<p><em>— Self-written</em></p>
</body>
</html>