50 years ago today, August 26, 1974, marks the anniversary of Tom Sinton Sr's enlistment in the United States Air Force and a lifetime of service in the aviation industry. He enlisted at age 19 at the Pottsville, PA recruiting office. This would have been just at the beginning of the end of the Vietnam War and because of his enlistment date, he is considered to be a Vietnam Era veteran. His test to see what job in the Air Force he would be best suited for pointed him toward Avionics Maintenance. He left for Lackland AFB in Texas from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport. I remember driving to the airport with him and our toddler daughter in our 1969 Chevy Camaro. Our daughter and I watched his plane depart, yes "into the wild blue yonder" from the observation deck that many airports in those days still offered.
Once at Lackland, Tom was assigned to Squadron 3711, Flight 962 for 6 weeks of Basic Training in the hot August Texas sun. In October of 1974, Tom found himself assigned to 3370 Student Squadron at Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois for his school courses to become an Avionics Instrument Systems Specialist.
In early 1981, Tom separated from the Air Force Reserves as a TSgt to start a civilian job with the US Army across the Mississippi River in St Louis, Missouri as an Aircraft Equipment Specialist. This would be a short lived job because Tom was offered an opportunity to become a Field Service Rep with the Douglas Aircraft Co division of McDonnell Douglas Corp. So in July of 1981, Tom was on his way to Norfolk, Virginia to begin this new adventure as Field Rep to the US Navy VR-56 squadron that was composed of 3 Douglas C9B aircraft. At age 26, Tom was one of the youngest field reps in the company. A compliment to his reputation and expertise. As a civilian, the one thing he lacked was his A & P and FCC licenses that were not needed during his military service. Tom completed classes and passed all testing, even repairing the fabric wing on a vintage aircraft, and was now in possession of his licenses. During his early time at Norfolk, Tom also completed his college education and received his Bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's local branch. About 4 years into this job, the squadron was tasked with converting one of it's aircraft into a VIP transport. Tom was an integral part in this conversion. Fondly dubbed "ET" for executive transport, aircraft tail number JU 9119, became the official transport for the Secretary of the Navy and other high ranking Naval personnel. "Join the Navy, see the world" does not apply only to naval personnel. In his capacity as Field Service Rep, Tom was assigned to be a part of the flight crew on all overseas trips and was for Navy billeting purposes seen as the equivalent of a Lt Commander. Tom took many trips in the following 3 years all over the world and served two SecNavs, John Lehman and James Webb.
As with all government contracts, this one was coming to an end. In order to provide more stability for his family, Tom elected to look for a job that would not have him moving all over the country. He found this in a Maintenance Foreman position with, the then, USAir in Pittsburgh, PA in 1988. In his 27 years with the airline, Tom saw several mergers, a strike by mechanics that put him back on the flightline for s time, a new airport built and a change in his work location from an office in a hangar to a state of the art Operations Center. He gained experience on some new aircraft types, such as the Boeing 737. When he retired in 2015, his retirement card read American Airlines.
Aviation has given Tom a chance to do something that he ended up loving. Something not afforded to everyone. Something to be proud of and remembered for by many.
So Happy 50th Tom and thank you for all of your service and keeping people safe.
