Council Rock grad found growth, fulfillment in Air Force.

By R. Kurt Osenlund, BucksLocalNews.com


Like most young men, Mike Gavaghan took part in his share of teenage mischief and rebellion. In addition to providing him with employment, excitement and a long-term career path, Gavaghan credits the U.S. Air Force for instilling in him some necessary post-high school maturity.

“I wasn't too far off-course,” says the 27-year-old Council Rock North graduate, “but (the Air Force) definitely straightened me out, for sure. It taught me discipline and respect.”

Born in Northeast Philadelphia and raised in Holland, Gavaghan says his interest in planes stretches back to his childhood, when he used to attend air shows with his father. He had that interest in mind when he graduated high school in 2001 and, knowing college wasn't for him, enlisted in the Air Force.

“I wanted to travel and serve my country,” Gavaghan says. “I didn't want to be in the infantry, I wanted to get more involved in maintenance – that's what really appealed to me. So I signed up to be a maintainer.”

Gavaghan's first stop was Lakeland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he stayed for seven weeks of boot camp. Regarding the famously rigorous breaking-in period, Gavaghan says the physical demands were easier than he expected, but the emotional toll was “10 times” more difficult.

“It's really your first time leaving everyone you know,” Gavaghan says. “That was the hardest part: they really break you down, and you have no one to turn to. You're alone.”

Gavaghan says such a feeling is common among first time soldiers – a universal experience that creates a camaraderie among peers and provides them with people to turn to after all.

In November 2001, Gavaghan headed to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, for a year of daily aircraft maintenance training. According to him, he went from knowing virtually nothing about airplanes to being able to “tear an airplane apart and pretty much know how to put it back together.” He later headed to a base in Tucson, Ariz., where he underwent more specialized training, learning the ins and outs of a machine he'd come to know quite well: the A-10 Thunderbolt II – or “Warthog” – jet aircraft.

He says he was responsible for the upkeep of 25 of these single-seat, twin-engine, close air support planes while stationed in Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, where he remained for two years. It was during that time when Gavaghan received orders to deploy to Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, a mission that filled him not with fear, but with excitement.

“I was extremely excited to be part of a unit that was going to deploy,” Gavaghan says. “I had an opportunity to really serve my country and I was ready to get out there. I was a little nervous – it's hard to go to the desert and not be nervous – but the fact that we were actually going to be doing our job was fun. It was like practicing a sport and finally being able to play.”

In fact, Gavaghan was so pleased with his new gig that after his first three-month rotation at Bagram ended, he volunteered for another. On maintaining planes used to provide cover and air support for soldiers stationed in particularly dangerous areas, Gavaghan says, “It was fulfilling. Working on the planes and knowing that they were flying combat missions, protecting the Army and stopping terrorism – because of us – was very satisfying.”

The most exhilarating part of the job, Gavaghan says, was when an order to “Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!” would come over the radio, and he and his fellow maintainers would need to ready a plane for takeoff – a process that can normally take up to an hour.

“Five minutes and that plane would be up in the air,” Gavaghan says, proudly.

In June 2004, Gavaghan relocated to Florida's Eglin Air Force Base, where he remains stationed to this day after reenlisting twice. He says Eglin has been “a boring base and an extremely exciting base at the same time.” Boring, he says, because he only has two planes to take care of (and because anywhere must seem tame compared to Afghanistan), and exciting because his mission became the testing of new bombs and missiles.

When new weapons are developed, Gavaghan and company ensure that they're compatible with the aircraft, and that they're firing and detonating properly. Once approved, the weapons are then shipped overseas. Gavaghan says the job creates a strong sense of urgency and an even stronger sense of pride, which also accounts for why he's chosen to remain in the military well after his initial tour of duty, and why he plans to continue to do so well into the future.

“A lot of people think I'm crazy,” says Gavaghan, who now holds the rank of staff sergeant. “People say, 'Why stay in the military?' while other people see it as an easy way out. But any military member will tell you how satisfying it is – the honor in it. Some people might not understand it, but I love what I'm doing. I'm protecting our troops, I'm protecting America, I'm making my dad proud.”

Gavaghan shares a house with a fellow soldier in Fort Walton Beach, a tourist town not far from the Eglin base. He says the area is nice and the scenery is gorgeous. Since new weapons aren't released every day, an average day of work for Gavaghan typically involves “keeping his skills sharp,” helping pilots with simulations and, of course, maintaining the planes.

Gavaghan says, “We keep the planes in top shape so they can continue flying.” Ironically enough, one might say the Air Force has done the very same for him.