Watching the skies

Vet enjoyed 22 years in military before becoming educator

By Monica Green/features@trcle.com

Editor’s note: Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, and the Times-Review will publish stories of military veterans each Monday of the month.



Most people know Cleburne resident David McPhail is a retired educator, having served as professor and dean at several colleges.

Most people do not know that he is also a retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt., having spent 22 years in the military.

“I was 18 and just graduated from high school,” he said. “I signed up for the Marines, but I wanted to be a medical specialist, and they didn’t have that.”

McPhail joined the Air Force in 1960, not as a medical specialist, but an aircraft controller.

He went to Lackland Air Force Base for basic training and then to technical school at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

His first assignment was Bangor Air Defense Station in Maine.

“They had a brand new computer system called SAGE, semi automatic ground environment,” he said.

He stayed there for five years before beginning a lifetime of moving from place to another.

He lived in Alaska twice, Florida, Virginia and more in the States.

He was assigned to the Fifth Tactical Group at Clark Air Base in the Philippines for his first tour.

“The main thing I did in the next 18 months was flying in Laos and controlling aircrafts coming in and out of North and South Vietnam,” he said.

He worked with audio, visual, computers, communication and controllers, and was part of Operation Delaware for three or four months.

McPhail said that Kason was his favorite part of his military career.

“AVCCC was probably my favorite assignment and the one that got me promoted to where I was,” he said.

Their crew flew out of Thailand to Laos and their main responsibility was to tear up the roads that were being used to transport supplies and weapons from North Vietnam armies to those in South Vietnam.

“We literally bombed a 30-mile radius of Kason [Mai] every day,” he said. “We were responsible for getting cargo in to the Marines and tear up the roads.”

After his first tour overseas, McPhail returned to the states and stayed in South Carolina for a year.

“I volunteered to go back to AVCCC and got turned down,” he said. “I got Monkey Mountain instead.

“Monkey Mountain was kind of interesting because I was in a special operation called Seek Dawn.”

His crew’s prime job on Seek Dawn was to keep secret flights out of danger for the Navy, Marines and Air Force.

After Monkey Mountain, he returned to the states again, this time at Fort Lee, Va., with another SAGE unit.

“I worked in the command post and was the command director technical, one of two key holders,” he said.

Then it was back to Alaska, this time at Campion Air Force Station.

“They say senior NCLs get first pick,” he said, “but what they don’t tell you is you get three choices, and you have to prioritize.”

His next stop was Oilton where he served as enlisted commander.

His last stop before retiring was Syracuse, N.Y., where he served in the 21st NORAD region.

“After 122 inches of snow, I put in my retirement papers,” he said with a laugh. That was in 1982.

During his military career, McPhail received the Bronze Star, several air and meritorious service medals, and joint service and Air Force service medals, among others.

“There were times that were kind of scary,” he said. “Like when you lose an engine and drop 10,000 feet, and people are shooting at you.

“I controlled on some days anywhere from 400-800 aircrafts for the Navy, Marines and Air Force.”



Life after the military

McPhail’s next career stop was education. He came to Cleburne’s Hill College, where he taught from 1983-88.

“I actually started teaching when I was still in the military,” he said. “I taught adjunct at two colleges while in Syracuse.”

Then McPhail became director of the Bachelor of Business Administration at what was then Marion College. He was in charge of the masters program and five undergraduate programs.

“A point I learned in the military — something might be a reward to me, but if you don’t think it is, you don’t want it,” he said. “I use that in my classes.”

He taught at Ivy Tech State College in Lafayette, Ind., for four years before returning to Marian College again, which became Marian University during his second tenure there. He served as dean of lifelong learning and during his last year there also served as dean of the school of business.

“My wife associates the moves with me getting so used to moving with the military that I couldn’t stay in one spot,” he said.

In 2007, he and his wife, Janie, returned to Cleburne once again to be closer to her family. He now teaches classes at Hill College.

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