Can't get enough: Air Force keeps pulling Homestead cargo specialist back in

Citizen Airman, August, 2004 by Chance C. Babin

Talking about his attempts to leave the "family business," Michael Corleone, lead character in the movie "Godfather III," uttered the famous line, "Just when I thought that I was out, they pulled me back in."

The same sentiment applies to the life of Tech. Sgt. Tom McKee. For the last 40 years, whenever he's drifted away from his Air Force family, something always pulled him back in. The one thing that seems certain to eventually sever his Air Force ties is his age.

Sergeant McKee, a cargo specialist with the 70th Aerial Port Squadron, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., first enlisted in the Air Force in 1965. Since that time, he's been in and out of service as both an enlisted troop and an officer.

"The military was my stepping stone," he said, "and, because of the Air Force, I'm still stepping on stones 40 years later."

When Sergeant McKee first started stepping on stones, it wasn't all that profitable. When he first enlisted in the Air Force, he was making $83 a month before taxes. It soon became obvious to him that he had to find another job to help make ends meet.

"When I was at Custer Air Force Station, Mich., I worked at a local radio station doing Air Force military sports," he said. "That was back when the military had a total integrated sports program in which teams played local schools and colleges."

Initially, the radio station gave him five minutes at 6 p.m. each day to give a rundown on the base sports. Sergeant McKee saw this as an opportunity to promote the military.

"I think I had one of the first military shows to inform the community that we do the same things they do, except we wear uniforms," he said. "This was a chance to bridge the gap within the community and help integrate the civilian community into military life."

After serving four years Sergeant McKee got off active duty and enrolled at Western Michigan University, where he walked on to the football team as a 25-year-old freshman.

"They (the other members of the team) called me pop," he said. "They would say, 'Hey old man, what are you doing playing this young man's game?' I wasn't a big star, but I played enough to letter. I got a tremendous amount of satisfaction making a Division I team at that age."

When Sergeant McKee finished college, he was ready for his second round in the Air Force, this time as an officer. He attended Officer Training School and graduated in 1974.

"It (OTS) was harder (than basic training) because being prior enlisted it was tough to accept some of the concepts and ideas that were being drilled into our head," Sergeant McKee. "But it was rewarding seeing how both sides are treated. I feel every officer should be prior enlisted."

During his tenure as an officer, Sergeant McKee served at Homestead Air Force Base, Fla., and Clark Air Base, Philippines. At Clark, he served as a radar operations officer and also as recreation officer. His secondary duty became his primary job after he joined the base football team, the Clark AB Diplomats, a full-contact squad that played against other teams within Pacific Air Forces.

"I was more of a star on that team because of my age and experience just coming out of college," he said. Sergeant McKee set a team record with a 78-yard punt return in a game.

When he started playing football, he left radar operations and went to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation organization full time, working as manager of the golf course.

After his second four-year stretch in the Air Force, Sergeant McKee once again called it quits. He moved back to Miami and began working for Eastern Airlines.

"I drove what is affectionately known as the 'honey bucket truck,' which is the lavatory services truck," he said.

Right around the same time Sergeant McKee was getting established with Eastern Airlines, a new television network called ESPN was getting started in Bristol, Conn., and because of his sports and radio background Sergeant McKee entertained the thought of applying for a job.

"I would have been perfect as an ESPN commentator," he said. "I gave it a passing thought, but I was down in Miami enjoying 80-degree weather in two feet of sand and didn't want to move to Bristol where it was minus 10 degrees with two feet of snow. So my feet stayed put."

Just when Sergeant McKee appeared to have the Air Force out of his system, he left Eastern Airlines in 1988, at a time when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy and experiencing severe labor problems. He moved back to Pittsburgh, Pa., his hometown, where he signed up for round three by becoming a member of the Air Force Reserve family when he joined the 911th Mobile Aerial Port Squadron in 1990. This time he was back in the enlisted ranks.

"It's strange, but you don't know how much you miss wearing the uniform until you put it back on," the sergeant said.

Sergeant McKee said he could have possibly returned as an officer but chose to remain enlisted.

"I'm very proud to have been an Air Force officer," he said. "It's something they can never take away from me, but I'm more comfortable being a worker bee, working with all my super bees."