Photo provided by:
SMSgt. Mike Curtis, Retired

Vaughn J. Bradley

                                             Biography

After Mt Home I went to Indian Springs NV, (test range support). After a year of flying, my hearing became a problem and my flying duty came to a halt.

I was assigned as an Executive Officer for a Brig. General at Nellis AFB and had the most un-enjoyable year of my Air Force life. I then worked in the Nellis Command Post for two years where I finished some school and got a Masters of Science degree from Embry Riddle University in Daytona Beach FL.


From there it was back to Nellis for a short time and then into the Air Force's new Space Command, assigned to Clear Air Station Alaska. There I was one of the Officers in charge of Tactical Operations team for 9 months and then 3 months as a Standardization Officer for the early warning radar site.

My final assignment was at the Johnson Space Center, Houston TX, where I worked with the NASA team responcible for the Orbital Maneuvering and Reaction Control systems of the Space Shuttle. The last flight I worked was the Challenger when she was lost. After training about 120 officers to run a space system control center that the Air Force planned in Coloado, they ditched the program.

Together with the Grand-Rudman military cutbacks and the cut of the Space Shttle program, resulted in a 50% RIF of captians in Space Command. Even a 3 star endorsement wasn't enough. The "kiss of death" was the medical flight grounding seven years earlier.

From the Air Force I went to Hercules Aero Space, Magna Utah, and worked as a logistics engineer on the Small ICBM Program which was cancelled two years later due to the SALT agreements. At that point I went back to the real world and worked for a contractor doing Insurance restoration contracting. During this time I did some "Expert Witness" duty in arbitration work - settling disputed insurance claims. I had some apartments, build some homes, and developed some land. None of which I would recommend right now!

My family has gone through changes including my wife, of the Mt. Home era, leaving after 32 years following some health problems. I remarried about three years ago to an Angle from Nevada, and counting my 3 childern, and my wife's adopted and natural childern, we have 15 childern, add 7 in-law childern and 23 grand childern the total lot is 45 - not counting us. Of these, we have 1 Air Force vet, 1 Army vet and 1 Army active Capt., 2 Navy members and 1 Marine. And, no I don't remember all their names yet. I have some grey hair and some missing and a few wrinkles.

All to be said, life is great and memories are a very great part of it. We are planning to make the reuion.

                                                                         (Enclosure - next page)