MANSFIELD — Jeff Charette has seen life from a different view than most of us.
His career path took him into the wild blue yonder, and beyond. But, after serving a little over 37 years in the Ohio Air National Guard at the 179th Airlift Wing, he announced his retirement last month.
“It was a fantastic ride,” Charette said of his career.
The 1979 Lexington graduate knew at a young age he wanted to be a pilot. He inititially considered joining the Air Force Academy. But when a family friend asked if he knew about the Ohio Air National Guard, he decided to visit the local unit at the Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.
After meeting with a recruiter and learning more about the opportunities to be had at the 179th Airlift Wing, he felt confident enough to sign his enlistment papers — even before telling his parents.
Charette enlisted on April 28, 1979. He returned to the 164th Airlift Squadron, after completing basic military training, as an operations airfield management specialist.
In addition to his military service, he attended The Ohio State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. In 1985, he reported to Columbus, Mississippi for undergraduate pilot training.
“That was a very intense program,” he said.
Trainees have about five or six rides with an instructor before taking their first solo trip. To this day, Charette remembers what it was like to fly an airplane by himself for the very first time.
“Scary,” he said succinctly. “You’re not scared that you’re going to hurt yourself, you’re more scared that you’re going to do something stupid.”
But Charette proved himself competent and earned his USAF Pilot Wings in August 1986.
He went onto to complete specialized flight training.
“Since I was in the Guard, that kind of picked my airplane for me,” he said. “I already knew that I was going to come home and fly the C-130 in Mansfield, Ohio.”
He began his operational training in 1987, learning more about his squadron and its role in the military, as well as his responsibilities. He was considered an operational co-pilot after about six weeks.
“I was learning how to fly a C-130 at that point and I continued to learn how to fly a C-130 for years,” he said.
Flying aircraft became second nature; however, there were always new techniques and tactics to be learned on the job.
“After years of flying, it was a very easy thing to just fly the airplane, but you’re always learning new things,” he said.
He was upgraded to the position of aircraft commander in 1990 and instructor pilot in 1991. He attained the rank of lieutenant colonel on Aug. 13, 2004.
A retirement ceremony was held Aug. 6 to recognize Charette for his many years of service.
In his speech, he told airmen that the Guard isn’t just a crew, but a family.
“When you deploy and live with people 24/7 in a combat zone, they become family and you never forget them because they help you get through the hard times,” he said.
He remembers when crew members worked together to resolve an incident in 2004. One of the gears in the aircraft malfunctioned upon taking off in northern Iraq.
“We had 59 people in the back of the airplane that we were bringing home who had been deployed for over a year,” he said.
Everyone worked as a team to ensure a safe flight back to the U.S.
“Thank goodness for our flight engineer and load masters,” he said. “They went in the back and literally tore the airplane apart from the inside. They took the panels off, took pieces apart, they actually had to break the landing gear, get it to fall down, and then chain it in place.”
Fortunately, they were able to land the plane and get everyone off safely.
“Most of them didn’t know how severe the issue was, he said. “It’s one of those things where it wasn’t as big a deal as it sounds because of the training we were given and what we knew we could do and the help we were given. From Kuwait, we were talking on a high frequency radio to people all the way in the United States, and we were talking to the manufacturer of the aircraft, Lockheed, who was trying to come up a solution also.”
Charette served numerous deployments and flew significant missions in support of Operation Desert Storm (Kuwait), Provide Promise (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Operation Provide Relief (Somalia), among others.
He appreciates how accommodating St. Peter’s Schools were when he was overseas and away from his children, Tanner and Elliana — both of whom attend St. Peter’s. The difference in time zone made it challenging to speak with them during a reasonable hour, so the school allowed them to take his phone calls during class time.
Charette logged over 7,300 hours of flight time in military aircraft and visited more than 50 countries.
“I traveled the world,” he said. “I saw places I would have never seen otherwise, some good some bad. But I can tell you one thing — I never had a bad time.”
He considers his retirement a graduation.
“I’m not ready to quit,” he said.
His future is a bit uncertain at the moment, although you may see him out at Apple Hill Orchards this fall helping pick apples.
He’ll also continue serving on Kindred Hospice of Richland and Ashland County, which honors veterans with a pinning ceremony.
