The end of an era

Friday, October 10th, 2008. was the last day that I had to wear my uniform. I enlisted February 11, 2003. My last as active duty is November 19, 2008. I will be in the Individual Ready Reserves until February 10, 2011 completing my 8 year commitment. I shouldn’t actually have to do anything, unless something bad pops up and they have an immediate need for a programmer, for some reason.

I had a good run. I was assigned to Detachment 1 Air Combat Command Training Support Squadron at Luke AFB, AZ. I worked there as a Simulation Engineer. I got the chance to go TDY to several states and to work on several cool projects.

One such project was a trainer used to teach aircrew members how to load crypto keys onto various aircraft. Our whole organization came together to create the trainer. We had our Tech Services people create the hardware design and layout the locations of the different components. On the actual aircraft, the components used were all over the aircraft. The trainer had to fit in a shipping container, so they had to make sure everything fit with room left over to run cables. The Model Shop guys built some of the input devices and a few mock-ups. The Electronics folks built the custom IO boards and wired up all of the inputs, outputs and the processing unit. Then my group, the Software team, wrote the code to make everything work together. It was a very cool project to be on, as it involved so many different teams.

In addition to working, I also got a few chances to do other cool things.

I got to jump out of an airplane with the Wings of Blue jump team instructors. During the months that it gets cold in Colorado, which is where they are based, they come down to Gila Bend, AZ, where the weather tends to be a bit nicer for their aerial pursuits.

I got to fly an F-16 over the deserts of Arizona. This was pretty much one of the best experiences of my entire life.

I also was able to attend E3 3 times. This was before it went all retarded.

I’ll miss the Air Force. I’ll miss what I was doing. I am, however, not going to cry over it, as I’m moving on to pursue my other dream. I’m going to be a game developer with Sony Online Entertainment working on DC Universe Online. The job is in Austin, Texas and I move on the 16th of October, 2008.