Kim Pruyne was a career Air Force Officer. Here is his story:

I always wanted to fly. UMass ROTC.  Didn't pass a flying physical (teeth), so I grabbed the next best thing for me, which was missile operations.  I was a launch officer when, by luck, a Flight Surgeon asked me to take a flying physical, and apply for pilot training.  The people in power got me a waiver.  The rest is history.  Pilot training Jan '67 to Jan '68.  I flew T-38s for the last half.  WINGS pinned on in late Jan '67, then C-123s to Viet Nam, where I once saw Harry Reinhold. [The chance meeting was near Can Tho, in the Fourth Corps (IV Corps) area of the Viet Nam Delta.]
 From there to Dover AFB in C-133s, then C-5s.  I was sent to teach C-5s in Altus AFB OK for two years.  From there to Command and Staff College (doubled for an MBA from Auburn), then I flew a desk for two years at MAC headquarters, then escaped to Westover to fly 123s and 130s.  From there to Germany for four years in C-130s.  My last assignment was to Keesler AFB in Mississippi, where I enjoyed flying C-130s into hurricanes.  I retired back to Western Mass. in '85. I still fly.
Posted By: Kim Pruyne [with an addition by Hank Allessio] - 07-18-2011
Views: 1636