VETERAN HIGHLIGHTS - CAPTAIN, CHARLES H. WEITZEL, RETIRED AIR FORCE

BY RUBY O. WOODS-ROBINSON, M.S.L.S.

Charles H. Weitzel was born in Royal Oak, Michigan a suburban area of Detroit. He attended Primary School at the St. James Catholic School, Ferndale, Michigan.

Charles became an orphan when his mother, age forty-nine died in August 1949. He was sent to a Catholic boarding School; Boysville of Michigan in Macon, Michigan. After completing the 11th Grade; Charles dropped out of High School to enlist in the United States Air Force in June 1954.

Charles completed Basic Training at Sampson Air Force Base, Geneva, New York in September 1954. Then he was assigned to Sampson; working in the assignment of Basic Trainees after graduation until February 1956. He was promoted to E3 and selected for assignment to RAF Upper Heyford England outside of Oxford. He worked in the Base Personnel Office as a personnel clerk; then in the Orderly Room, HQ SQ as Chief Clerk and promoted to E4. Shortly thereafter he was reassigned to HQ Thor Missile Wing at 7th Air Division Headquarters, London, England in 1958. Charles was a dedicated person, he worked hard and always remembered that a sincere and dedicated person would be rewarded and so he was. In 1960, Charles was promoted to E5 and transferred to RAF High Wycombe just outside of London. Here he worked as NCOIC Family Services in Base Personnel until rotating in 1961 to Carswell Air Force Base Ft. Worth, Texas, NCOIC of Airmen Assignments.

In 1963 Charles was reassigned to Kincheloe Air Force Base, Michigan, working as NCOIC Officer Assignments, for 1 year, then cross trained as a Management Analysis Technician and worked in Flight Operations Analysis until transferred to Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, Texas. At Sheppard AFB, Charles worked Operations Analysis until the SAC Wing was closed and he transferred in June 1966 to Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico. Charles worked as NCOIC of Management Analysis Branch in the Directorate of Operations; where he was promoted to E6. After assessing his possible promotions and his career, Charles applied for and was accepted for the Bootstrap Commissioning Program in 1969. He completed the requirements for his degree at Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, graduating Cum Laude, in May 1969 and was sent to Lackland AFB where he completed Officer Basic Training and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was sent to Computer Operations Officer Course and his final assignment to Ent AFB, Colorado Springs, CO in Aug 1969. As a 2nd Lieutenant, Computer Operations at Air Division HQ, Ent AFB he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Ent AFB was de-activated and he was reassigned to his previous area of experience in Base Personnel, as Chief, Officer Assignments. Six months later he was reassigned back into the Computer field as there was a need for a Computer Operations Officer in North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Operations center in NORAD Mountain. There he was assigned as Officer in charge of Computer Operations and promoted to Captain. At this point Charles decided he would like to cross train into the Military Club Management Field. He became Assistant Club Officer on OJT at the Ent AFB Officers Open Mess. He attended Open Mess Management Course at Lowry AFB, Denver, CO; returned to the Ent Open Mess for several months and then was reassigned in June 1963 to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey where he took over management of the Officers Open Mess. Upon completion of his tour he was reassigned to Duluth AFB, MN and again back into the Personnel Field. Finally ending his career as, Chief Base Personnel at Duluth AFB, MN and retiring in October 1969 with 25 years of active duty. His hobbies included building a homemade airplane (a VariEze) while stationed at Duluth over a three year period. He flew it to the National Air Show in Oshkosh, WI, in 1969 to put his plane on display. After retiring from the military Charles bought a motor home and began travelling all over the U.S., Mexico and Belize; finally settling in Mexico where he founded and directed the Alamos Christian Children’s Center from 1986 – 2001. During his motorhome days he worked in the U.S. (coming out of Mexico) in the Spring/Summer/Fall to earn money to support the Children’s Center in Alamos. Work included: driving a truck which caught the harvest of cattle feed from the harvesting machine; processed almonds on an Almond Ranch and finally ended up running the plant as manager for two years; Sold Christmas Trees in the Los Angeles area and Sacramento California during the season. Charles moved into the AFRH-G in January of 2013.