History comes to life for 53rd Wing

  • Published
  • By Ashley M. Wright
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Lessons learned were spread from a seasoned source as history walked the hallways of the 53rd Wing this week.

The first time retired Lt. Col. Jack Rice was assigned to the 53rd Wing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt told his generation they had a rendezvous with destiny. Then Lieutenant Rice's destiny began in 1943, as a student in the 53rd Fighter Group stationed in Fort Myers, Fla. He was undergoing replacement training to go overseas. This would lead to his role in the 506th Fighter Group, which flew P-51 Mustangs escorting bombers over Iwo Jima.

The second time Mr. Rice was assigned to the 53rd Wing, President John F. Kennedy said in 1963, "We need men who can dream of things that never were." The colonel fulfilled those dreams by serving as a staff engineer at the Tactical Air Warfare Center, developing doctrine and tests for F-4s providing close air support for infantry troops..

The third time Mr. Rice visited the 53rd Wing, President Barack Obama stated, "it took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun."
Again, Mr. Rice answered the wing's call. Armed with his "flight leader," daughter Cheryl Anderson, he spent a week recording his history with the wing and speaking to today's Airmen about the Air Force.

"I started out calling [my daughter] my wingman because she was taking care of me," Mr. Rice said. "It got to the point where she was so great that I call my flight leader."

On the notion that his third time to the wing was a charm, Mr. Rice gave a different point of view.

"The reception has been absolutely fantastic," Mr. Rice said. "The way you describe it as better, as I learned at Nellis AFB, when they could never figure out whether something was fabulous or fantastic. So, they came up with a word-fantabulous. That is what this has been."

The 88-year-old veteran visited units in the 53rd Wing to provide a glimpse at the origins of the wing. One key point introduced by the Mr. Rice to the audiences was changes in the Air Force.

"I talked to them about the early days [here]," said Mr. Rice, who now lives in Connecticut. "We were tasked to very quickly determine concept and doctrine to support a mechanized infantry division in the field. We did that-and we passed. That part of it--the testing and evaluation--and the exploration of problems is what we are doing today in a way."

Today, the wing's mission is providing the warfighter with operational tests and evaluations of new equipment and systems.

Mr. Rice dispensed more advice on how the Air Force has changed on another level through a reflection on a watermelon patch.

There was a very different atmosphere in flying in those days, Mr. Rice said. The difference was there was no air traffic.

"The skies belonged to us," he bragged.

One day while practicing touch and go landings in an undeveloped airfield, he stopped, parked, left the engine running, set the brakes, left the airplane and hopped the fence to pick a watermelon. After returning to the airplane, he took off back to Fort Myers, he said.

"Obviously, someone saw us on the ground, and when we got back home the squadron operations officer met me on the wing," Mr. Rice said. "Here I am with a watermelon on my lap and... he asked what happened. I told him we were just flying low, and I ended up with a watermelon. He laughed, accepted it and got off the wing. I never heard another word about it.

"It was just a simple little incident," he said. "But if you think about today, that would be in headlines across the country if something like that happened."

Joining the military in 1942, Mr. Rice went on to pilot or co-pilot 27 different types of aircraft including the P-39, P-51, T-6 and L-1 before retiring with 32 years of service.

"It was a privilege to welcome Colonel Rice back to the 53rd Wing," said Col. Michael Gantt, 53rd Wing commander. "We deeply appreciate his time in talking with members of the wing. As a part of the greatest generation, who paved the way for the wing, we look forward to caring on the traditional of excellence he and other started."

The second purpose of his visit was to share his experience with the wing historian, Dr. Charles Merkel. On doing research of the last commander for the 53rd Fighter Group in World War II before they deactivated and forming the 506th Fighter Group, Dr. Merkel ran across a Web site for the group. This led to an introduction to Mr. Rice.

"The advantage of having Colonel Rice here was the opportunity for the 53rd Wing, especially the young Airmen, to look into the eyes of someone who had been a part of the unit in 1943 and 1963," Dr. Merkel said.

Mr. Rice filled in the blanks and made history three dimensional with stories aerial warfare on the Pacific front of World War II and the early days of the Tactical Air Warfare Center, which was the precursor of the 53rd Wing, Dr. Merkel said.

"The first mission our group ever flew was not an escort mission, but a sweep on some air fields to catch the Japanese airplanes on the ground," the former Mustang pilot said. "We went up through a Navy field, way up northeast of Tokyo. This mission was the longest fighter mission that had ever been set up [at that point]."

Mr. Rice found ways to connect with the aircrew mechanics throughout his career. After flying during the day, he would spend the evenings with the aircrew working and inspecting the aircraft. It got to the point, that the group would pull 100-hour inspections and the chief would sign off on it, he said.

Mr. Rice passed along a final bit advice that served him well in his career that he learned from a former co-worker who went onto to become the prime minister of Denmark.

"In your career, look at what is going on around you, not to learn the operation of the guy next to you, but to be fully aware of what he is doing because you never know what your next assignment is going to be," he said. "The story is be careful what you do, because you don't know who your boss is going to be."