Julie Alexander
09/25/1996
In a career that has spanned 31 years, Col. Jerome Hume, received the `ultimate assignment` Sept. 14 when he assumed command of the 138th Fighter Wing at the Oklahoma Air National Guard Base. Hume, a resident of Catoosa, has been at the unit since 1972 after joining the Air National Guard in 1971. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Hume, 54, joined the Air Force in 1965 and completed his pilot training at Laredo Air Force Base in Texas. He has served in Europe and flew O-2s during the Vietnam War. After serving six years in the Air Force, he joined the Air National Guard as a traditional guardsman so he could continue flying military aircraft. `I had the interest -- I love to fly -- it was an opportunity to be able to continue flying military airplanes yet not be forced to continue to move around the country and be away from my family,` he said. `For me it was the best of both worlds where I could still continue military flying and have a stable family life. `One of the goals I had was to allow my children to grow up with the same school system and the same friends. I had the opportunity to enjoy that and I promised them they would not be a classic Air Force brat. I didn't want them to have that life. I was able to do that by being a member of the guard.`
While a traditional guardsman, Hume worked as a teacher in Oklahoma City and at Memorial High School. He has flown a number of planes over the years including the C-124, F-100 and the A-7. As a full-time member of the Oklahoma Air National Guard, Hume has served as the Safety Officer and Operations Group Manager for the 138th Tactical Fighter Group. He received the rank of colonel on Dec. 7, 1993.
As Commander, Hume oversees 1,200 full and part-time employees at the base. During peace time, the unit is under the direction of the Governor of Oklahoma. When the federal building was bombed in Oklahoma City, several units of the OANG were called in to serve. In addition toserving the state government, the unit must be combat ready at all times, Hume said. Some members of the 138th served in Desert Storm.
Hume describes his 88-acre domain as `a mini Air Force base.` As in the military, the guard base is home base to a squadron of F-16s fighter jets, a mechanics crew, 30 pilots and a host of operations functions including medical personnel, civil engineers, fire and rescue units and communications. The almost 300 full-time federal and state employees maintain the planes and train for combat at the base.
Six hundred of the guards attended an inspection in Gulf Port, Mississippi in March, and passed with flying colors, Hume said. The unit has spent the last three years converting from A-7s to the F-16s. Hume said the unit has a `very good reputation,` both at the state and federal level and the recent changeover to the fighters has been key to the unit's success.
Hume has been certified as a combat-ready pilot for 30 years, but has been grounded recently due to a ruptured disc in his neck. He's spent the last three months in physical therapy and hopes to be back in the cockpit in October, he said. Hume has flown many planes, but likes the thrill of the jet fighter. `I enjoy the single-seat cockpit. Obviously it's a thrill,` he said. `You can imagine any of your Six Flags rides -- they're very tame compared to flying in a fighter plane.`
When he receives the O.K. from the doctors to fly, Hume will resume flying sorties to weapons ranges in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The F-16s fly daily, practicing air offense and defense skills, air-to-air combat and bombings.
As much as he tried to shield his daughters from the military life, daughter Kristine followed Hume into the Air National Guard after she graduated from Catoosa High School in 1984. She now serves as a traditional guard member one weekend per month under her father as a first lieutenant in the medical squadron. Kristine and husband Steve Bleakley live in Oklahoma City.
Daughter Teresa, `didn't want anything to do with the military,` Hume said. Teresa and husband, Mark Miller live in Rolling Hills. Hume is married to Elizabeth Hume.
With the federal budget ax threatening military cutbacks, Hume said he will work to avoid cutbacks at the base, which pumps $84 million into the local economy annually. Actually he hopes to make the Tulsa unit, the oldest in the state, expand under his command, he said. `We plan on maintaining our role with the F-16. We're working to expand the capabilities we can do with the airplane,` Hume said. Several building projects are also planned for the base in the future. As long as the unit remains combat-ready, Hume said there will be a continuing need for state National Guard units. `Cuts are always a possibility but as long as we are seen as a strong combat unit and we have first-line equipment and we can do the job if called upon then it lessens that possibility,` Hume said. `And that's part of the motivation -- to make sure we're one of the best F-16 units in the guard. The cost to maintain a unit like this is a fraction of the cost of maintaining an active duty unit where all the people are full-time.`
`Being Commander of the Oklahoma National Guard is, as a pilot, the ultimate assignment. It is a lot of responsibility, because the buck stops here as far as anything happening, and in regard to how our people perform,` he said. `But I'm blessed with a group of people that are very highly motivated and I give them guidance to allow them to do their job.` |
