Starting Over
It was a while ago that my life had to start over. I was 30 years old. I stood 5' 8". I weighed 140 pounds. I had brown hair. Brown eyes. My build was athletic. I graduated college at 22, completed my master's at 23. My doctorate at 25. I Joined the Air Force just after. The Air Force paid for my master's and PHD in electrical engineering. I specialized in laser communication. I was sworn into the ROTC my first year in undergraduate school. When I completed mt PHD. The Air Force sworn me in as a Major. I was sent to California, Liver Moore Labs. My work was producing good results. My focus was to develop a compact handheld laser radio and emergency locater. The Idea was to use short burst small laser beam to a satellite. To signal a down polit location or for a small unit to communicate with other units. To reduce the chance of detection by an adversary. The goal was to get this device the size of a pack of cigarettes that weighed less than pound.
While in California, being still young. I started to enjoy the night life as they say. I would hit the local areas clubs. I would hit it off with a woman for a night. Have a few drinks. Do some dancing. Then see what would develop later, sometime I would strikeout but more often I would wake in her bed. The next weekend I do it again with another woman. I was having good luck for the most part. For over a year. I work during the week. Spend my weekends clubbing. I knew that it could be dangerous being what they call a player. But as they say, "I was young and dumb and full of cum". I decided to tone down my activities some. I picked up a woman had a good time. She took me home. We had a long night of sex. I woke up when her husband came home with the kids. I had just enough time to grab my clothes and get out.
I changed my tactics. I started looking for the right girl. I went to different types of clubs. I went to museums and art galleries. I would sit drinking at the cafΓ© located in book stores reading and looking. After a few months I met Sandy. She was a few years older. She I would find out had a PHD in literature. She specialized in 18th-century British and American historical documentation. She at the time focused on some of the writings of what is now called the witch hunt. She was looking to prove or disprove the idea of witches ability to cast spells. I being a "scientist" had a hard time believing.
We found that we enjoyed ourselves. We dated and had many discussions about her field of study. She get mad at me for a remark or for mocking her about a certain point. Then she hit me with a logic answer that I had to concede her point. We found that we also liked to enjoy the outdoors. Hiking, rafting, horseback riding. Her idea of camping was Motel 6. She did not like to camp. She said a lady won't shit in the woods like a bear.
Just over a year we got serious. We only dated each other for the past eight months. Sandy wanted us to live together. I was living in the BOQ so it would need to be in her apartment. I informed my command that I was going to move in with my girlfriend. Because I had a high security clearance. The S2 did a quick check of Sandy. They did not find any issues. I moved in that weekend. We had a great time "playing house". I get up early to head out for my command PT and accountability formation.
I showered and change at the gym. Go to duty working on my projects. Then home to Sandy. Sandy did most of her work remotely from home. She would need to go to a museum or an old court house to search records. But she would greet me when I came home. After dinner we read or she would tell me of her find. We would watch a movie or listen to music cuddling on the couch in candle light. The sex was great.
We married about six months later. Our life was going well for about six or seven months. I was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. My new assignment was in the testing and evaluation of the equipment I was helping to design. About two months later I was informed that a field test was needed. I developed the testing operational plans. I wrote the testing protocols. And developed the field orders for the testing. It was decided that the test be conducted in Alaska during the summer months. From a base camp located on an emergency air filed near Prudhoe Bay. We would chopper out to a remote location. Where we would be dropped off for a few days. We were crash survivors. We would try to communicate using the equipment in different locations. The GPS systems and voice communication would be evaluated.
About the sixth week our results were looking good. It was decided that a test of equipment survivability be tested. Our plan was that six men would jump from different heights at six different locations. I being the highest ranking officer after the test commander. I volunteered to be one of the testers. Because my Air Force training in survival and escape. I worked out a test for me to be ejected from a fighter that was set up for ejection seat training. This would simulate an emergency ejection. I would be ejected at night. That is where things would change for me. The day of the test I called Sandy to let her know how things were going. I told her about the testing in general terms. I did not tell her I was going to be ejected. I was not that stupid.