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Thunderbolt NEWS July 24, 2015 5
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A historian with his own history Air Force Base in Oklahoma where he
served three and a half years. Next was
Story and photos by Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, the Naval Air Station Keflavik, Iceland. Richard Griset, 56th Fighter Wing histo-
Senior Airman Colorado. He then drove across Iceland, rode the rian, shows an old pilot uniform that is
ferry and drove through northern Europe part of a preservation collection on Luke
MARCY COPELAND At the time, basic training was about six- to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he Air Force Base.
weeks long,” Griset said. “Then you started worked on the United States Air Forces in
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs freshman year, which was more or less a Europe staff.
continuation of basic. It wasn’t as intense,
Richard Griset seems like a very quiet but you still had to sit at attention when Griset arrived at Luke where he served
and reserved man and appears to be just you ate and had to ask permission to ask a as the last 405th Equipment Maintenance
another face at Luke Air Force Base. That question. We had to march on the marble Squadron commander, then as chief of
is until people meet him. strips the entire year.” maintenance for the 555th Fighter Squad-
ron for two years. He left Luke and went
Serving as a historian, Griset is respon- With each passing year, class status to Norfolk, Virginia, spent three years at
sible for preserving Luke’s history and became a little easier. Griset entered the U.S. Atlantic Command at which point he
heritage while piecing together missing academy to become a pilot but was unable turned right around and came back to Luke
fragments from the base’s 74-year history. to realize his dream due to a medical condi- to help stand up the 21st Fighter Squadron
tion. He graduated in 1978 and went for the as chief of maintenance for two years. In
“To get a history job was my goal,” Griset next best thing, working on aircraft. a whirlwind, he was sent back to the At-
said. “To do something in history is what I lantic Command which then became Joint
wanted to do with my retirement. I am one “I wanted to fly fighters,” Griset said. Forces Command. Then, he went next door
of those people who can’t really retire. I will “Since I couldn’t do that, I chose the career to teach at the Joint Force Staff College.
keep working until I can’t.” that would let me get as close to them as
possible, which was aircraft maintenance.” After 28 years of service and more than
Griset was born and raised in Fallbrook, a dozen bases, Griset retired in 2006 as a
California, and attended Fallbrook Union His technical education training at Cha- lieutenant colonel with a bachelor’s and
High School graduating in 1973. He ob- nute Air Force Base in Champaign County, master’s degrees in history.
tained a Reserve Officers Training Corps Illinois, was six months long. He left Illinois
scholarship to attend the University of and traveled to England where he was “The transition is tough, no matter who
Southern California. stationed at Royal Air Force Bentwaters you are or what you do,” Griset remarked.
for three years. “You are used to being part of a unit. You
The Vietnam War was beginning to wind spend 20 or more years in the culture
down and after attending USC for one year, From there, Griset journeyed to Tinker and then all of a sudden you step out and
Griset took an opportunity to attend the start doing something different. It can be
scary. It takes a while and the best thing
for anyone to remember is to just relax.
You’re not the first to go through retiring
from the military, and you won’t be the last.
See vETERAnS, Page 15
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