"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm"
1960 Anchorage High Reunion: Classmates
Page posted June 14, 2010
Usto Schulz
AHS yearbook, 1960
Got thru the Air Force Academy, about middle of the class. Right after, I came back to visit parents in Anchorage--I actually drove the AlCan with John Sims and my brother. Then with nothing better to do, I spent a couple months working for Bob Reeve and Reeve Aleutian at Cold Bay--a great time, and Reeve let me travel the Reeve system to see the islands. Then off to pilot training at Craig AFB in Selma AL, where I got wings and went on to KC135 tankers.
Along the way, got married. First Assgt was Travis AFB in the Bay Area. Spent 18 mos there, but was bored with pulling "alert" ie, sitting around waiting for war, and not flying nearly as much as I wanted.
Note from your webmaster, Craig Vetter: Usto Schulz, Bob Clark, Bob Fisk and I went to the Air Force Academy after graduation. I dropped out after the summer program. Fisk died in a plane crash in 1964, Clark went on to retire as a Colonel in 1991. Usto changed his name to Sam for a while. Here is his story:
I volunteered for (at that time) a special assgt at Eielson AFB AK. The mission was declassifed about 15 yrs ago, so can now say I flew all around the USSR, China, and N Korea collecting intell. Lotsa flying, which I loved. I also spent way too much time at Shemya (also flying reconaissance against USSR). I volunteered for the U-2, and while training, managed to prang it on the runway at Davis-Monthan in Tucson, and that ended my thoughts of ultra high flying.
I went from there to SEA for an abbreviated tour in Thailand--the 'Nam was over, and I came back to Tucson and was selected by USAF to attend U of AZ for an MSEE. I left AZ for Omaha and HQ Strategic Air Command, working in Command and Control as a satellite engineer and future systems planner. By end of that tour, I had been promoted to Lt Col. I went to the Pentagon where I worked on a major satcom Systmem called Milstar, where I was promoted to Col. Between Omaha and PNT, I got divorced. In VA while at the PNT, I got married to my current wife, Bernadette. From PNT, I went to Kelly AFB TX where I managaged space programs for 6 years and had a wonderful time. I had sites in Berlin, Italy (near Brindisi) and Scotland; later Osan Korea. I supported NCOs at other locations in Bad Aibling GE, Harrogate UK, and some other spots in US. It was great.
From San Antonio, we retired from AF in 1991, right after the first Gulf War, and moved to Solvang CA. Bern's family was in CA (Mom/Dad in Merced in San Joaquin valley; and her sis, in the Santa Cruz mountains. That lasted 18 yrs--I was working as a defense contractor in Santa Barbara the whole time, traveling around the country supporting the USAF. Meanwhile, her mom passed, and later her dad, we moved to Colorado Springs--we learned that her fibromyalgia was far less discomforting at higher elevations.
Cadet "Sam" in 1962. East Berlin in background
Usto's Crew, 1971, Eielson
Bernadette and Usto, 1982, Wedding Day
Schulz Family, 1994
My name has a twist...as a result of (I think of him as Mr. Peepers from the TV show) puting Sam in his book. When I got to USAFA for my college education, I used Sam for simplicity. My family was aghast, and never used that. After some years in the AF, I changed career paths, and reverted to my given name, Usto. So many of my USAFA 'mates and flying buds, still call me Sam, but most now call me Usto. I'm happy with either--in fact, it helps remind me where/when I might have known someone that I don't recognize or recall when we get together.