James Keith Sowell
05-07-1954 | Little Rock, Arkansas
PROGRAMS:
COMPANIES:
LOCATIONS:
England AFB, Louisiana, USA; RAF Upper Heyford, England, UK.
POSITIONS:
Aircraft Maintenance Technician
COMMENTS:
I worked on the first 3 Space Shuttles as a training and safety officer (NCOIC) for Crash Recovery in the U.S. Air Force at RAF Upper Heyford in England, UK from 1979-82. We were the alternate emergency landing facility for the primary landing site at Zaragoza, Spain. I waited on the end of the runway 3 times until the Space Shuttle flew past our facility. After this assignment my tour was finished and I was shipped back to stateside. Prior to this assignment (1977-79) I was stationed at England AFB in Louisiana and I serviced all of the T-38 NASA trainers and knew all of the original Shuttle Astronauts personally. They all stopped for fuel while traveling from KSC to Houston for training.