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Top AETC Reservist retires

  • Published
  • By Dianne Moffett
  • AETC public affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  "It has been a fun ride but 37 years is a long time," said Maj. Gen. Jack W. Ramsaur II when asked about his Aug. 19 retirement from the Air Force Reserve. He said he has been lucky and blessed because he has had a successful career and has worked with some talented people.

Ramsaur is the mobilization assistant to the commander, Air Education and Training Command. As the senior Reserve liaison to the AETC commander, he represents the Air Force Reserve Command and integrates Reservists into the Air Force.

Helping people is what Ramsaur said he will miss the most about the Air Force.

"Sometimes people have problems, and sometimes a two-star can get questions answered or problems fixed quicker," said Ramsaur.

A pilot since 1976, Ramsaur was commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corp program at Louisiana Tech University and started flying KC-135's for the 71st Air Refueling Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La.

After six years of active service, Ramsaur entered the Air Force Reserve and started flying KC-10's right off the assembly line in 1982.

Later, he helped stand up the first Strategic Air Command Associate Program for the KC-10 at Barksdale AFB. The program allowed active-duty and Reserve units to share, work and train on the same aircraft.

Ramsaur was one of the first KC-10 pilots supporting U.S. forces during the Panama Crisis in 1989 and among the first to arrive in theater during Desert Shield in 1990. The general said he delivered aircraft with missiles and Marines with rifles.

"We went into a place where the concrete smelled wet, like it had just been poured, it was that new," he said.

When he is not flying for the Air Force Reserve, Ramsaur flies Boeing 777s internationally for FedEx and has been a civilian pilot since 1983.

"Flying commercially is not the same," Ramsaur said, "you fly with a different crew every time and you don't experience the camaraderie that you find in the Air Force.

Though he's leaving military service, Ramsaur isn't done flying but is planning a bit more of his time on the ground in pursuit of personal goals.

"I can fly until I'm 65," Ramsaur said, but what he really plans to do after retiring from the Air Force Reserve is to take some time for himself.

"I am going to miss the Air Force; it was in my life for 37 years," he said. "I have been very fortunate to surround myself with many bright and talented people, and what I am most proud of is I left the playground in a lot better shape than when I got here."