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arriving to Oklahoma City, I soon realized why apparently sane people were
all carrying umbrellas on cloudless sunny days!
If not for the Federal Aviation Administration, I probably never would have even
visited Oklahoma. With no disrespect to the good people of Oklahoma, it simply
wasn't on my "must see" list.
Oklahoma City where I'd be living for the next year as an air traffic controller
enrolled at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Institute in Oklahoma City. I was still
amazed that I had made it through the gruelling recruitment process and my
mother was gloating with a mother's pride that her only child was an air traffic
controller.
I had never envisioned being an air traffic controller, and can't recall ever
wanting to be one. To me it was a combination of three things that made me
decide to become an "ATC". First it was the quickest escape route from the
hell of Krome Detention Center and secondly it was one of the highest paying
government jobs one could land. At the time the starting salary was $35,000 and
within three years I could be earning in excess of $70,000. But the third
reason was one of a personal challenge - to see if I actually had the mental
capacity to perform a job that by any standards is difficult, mentally tedious, and
requiring extreme concentration. Some veteran controllers call it the ultimate
video game one can play.
apartments
was where
I settled
in OKC,
primarily because of
it's proximity to the academy and a strip mall that had just about everything
I could possibly need including a little restaurant called "Jimmy's Egg"
whose claim to fame was that they had 101 different ways to serve a
plate of eggs.
141
Ask any pilot Flying an airplane is not difficult. Controlling dozens of them flying through the same
airspace at various speeds, altitudes, and direction is a monumental task. ATCs have the most
stressful jobs in the world and are responsible for the safety of 3 million air passengers every day.
I rented out a three-bedroom apartment and quickly rented out two of the
rooms to two other air traffic controllers
Phil Dostalik of Jacksonville, Florida who was making the transition from
a naval air traffic controller to a civilian FAA controller. The other was a
fellow from Pawtucket, Rhode
Other than sleeping
together
Island, whose
memorized,
controller.
imagine
and
most
how
much time
One
intensely
much information
importantly
in
has
my entire
to
- retained to become
be
life.
learned,
an air traffic
But to give you just some idea, consider that there are literally
of
time
at forty-five
different
142
altitudes
assigned radio beacon frequency and all them, along with the intersections,
mileage
permanently
matter of your brain for instant recall upon demand of an instructor and
eventually pilots ferrying
a day.
On our first
vector routes over the Southwest U.S.) and told that we had a month to
memorize
the
exception,
map
and
every student
disbelief.
draw
it completely
from
memory.
at one
another
Without
in total
requirement
I am one that has a hard time dealing with failure of any sort, and
I was determined to not only graduate, but I decided that I would strive to
graduate
experienced
my
class.
Having
Phil,
an
Surprisingly after two weeks of drawing this dreaded map every night, we were
coming to realize that the task was actually possible. As the days past, we would
add more and more details and by day 30, about 70% of us were able to draw
this map without omissions or errors.
Those that couldn't left OKC for home. The rest of us moved on to more
interesting subject matter including meteorology, radio communications, and
learning the rules of separation, the latter of which was especially challenging
143
This is an aviators air vector map that ATCs have to memorize in 3 dimensions a task that takes three
months at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City.
Our meteorology instructor was a jovial and entertaining man who made
learning fun and interesting. His name was Ace Gardner and I truly enjoyed his
classes and owe my entire knowledge of weather patterns, wx map
144
But no man is
one that would eventually affect my life and livelihood as an air traffic controller.
Good old Ace was in his early fifties, and although I never knew his
marriage history, he appeared to be a ladies man.
and very well-like by students and staff alike.
standards three or four them were quite attractive and often times - distracting.
Most of us students were in our early twenties and only a handful were over
thirty years of age. By comparison, all the instructors were in their late 40s, 50,
and 60s. Frankly, most of us were too engrossed in our studies to pursue
relationships, but there certainly were some exceptions.
During the course of our training, several of us students noticed that Angela
was a bit chummy with one of the instructors and the looks and comments
they exchanged left little doubt that some relationship had developed between
them.
A week or so later all doubt was removed when one of our colleagues
spotted Angela in the embrace of the instructor in the hot tub of the airport
hotel.
hoot and most of us didn't give it a second thought. But those that did feel
obliged to gossip quickly created a trashy reputation for the girl as one who was
sleeping around with instructors in an effort to guarantee her graduation.
Unfortunately, because she did seem to be struggling along in class, this rumor
was an easy one to believe. I felt badly for Angela, but decided to mind my own
business and treated her as I always did - with respect.
subject with her or anyone else, primarily because I myself knew what it felt like
to be wrongly accused, and for all I knew, maybe she was and I assumed her
to be.
But within a week, the rumor was buzzing even amongst staff members at the
academy and there was a noticeable difference in how people were treating this
girl. Judging by here swollen red eyes, I could tell that Angela spent a good
deal of her time crying and I could not keep silent any more.
I felt
compelled to comfort her in some way and all I had to offer were words. So
before class began, I bent over and whispered to her "Not everyone believes the
gossip, so try to just relax and focus on yours studies."
grateful eyes and smiled at me. "Thanks" was all she said.
Only a day or two later, I saw Angela during one of the breaks running
down the hall towards the rest room with tears streaming down her face. "What
happened?" I asked one of her friends. "Shes just upset - every instructor in
the building has been hitting on her lately". I said nothing as I made my way to
my next class.
The very next day was a Friday as I recall some of the students talking
about spending the weekend in Dallas which was just a two hour drive from
146
OKC.
concluded, I was gathering up my notes when from the corner of my eye I saw
Ace motion Angela to come up to see him. It was an insignificant gesture and I
paid little attention to it. But as Angela walked towards the front of the class to
speak with Ace, she dropped some papers and some of them landed at my feet.
I picked them up and handed them to her and then proceeded to walk away
towards the door when I heard Ace's distinctive voice "Honey, I'd gladly be
willing to trade you a better grade for the pleasure of your company tonight".
As I headed towards the door, I heard Angela tersely reply "No thank you", and
maybe two seconds later I heard a loud crack and I turned around just in
time to see a stunned Ace stroking the side of his reddened face and Angela
storming out the door mad as hell.
embarrassed, he just shrugged and smiled. She had slapped him hard enough
to leave the red imprint of her hand on the side of his face.
I would learn
later that evening from another student that Angela claimed he pinched her ass
as he made those comments to her. But I had lost interest in the Angela soap
opera and after having a drink with Phil at a local bar, went back to the
apartment to get ready for a date of my own.
I had met a local girl named Dina at a flea market the weekend before.
She was a vendor at the market and she noticed that I was carrying my
motorcycle helmet and struck up a conversation with me about motorcycles.
As it turned out, her ex was a biker. After conversing for almost an hour
we parted ways with a bargain in place. Dina would show me the sights of
Oklahoma City in exchange for a motorcycle ride. I needed a little diversion in
my life from all the tedious bookwork and Dina was just the ticket. She was very
friendly and fun to be with. She made an excellent guide and took me to this
country dance hall which was a real trip for me. I didn't even know there was
147
such a thing called a "line dance" or a "Texas Two-Step" yet she had me
doing both before the night was through.
looking for anything more than friendship and that was cool with her.
We
would get together one more time for lunch before I would leave Oklahoma
City, never to return again. Besides my girlfriend back in Miami didn't
think much of me having female friends
After two months of separation she flew out for a two week visit herself
but she grew bored watching me study and compared to Miami, OKC was
a ghost town of sorts, at least to my girl.
ATCs earn over $100,000 per year and need no university degree just great concentration, composure,
and nerves of steel.
by an endless carpet
of cloudy gray skies and brisk cold winds blowing in from the prairies.
I
148
was doing well in school and managed to stay in the top ten percent of
my class so far with a 92% average. I was pleased with my progress
was looking forward to graduating
and
As a graduate
of
my Spanish
forward to getting myself a twenty five acre plot of land in the countryside,
raising some horses again, and doing plenty of scuba diving. Yes, indeed,
my future was looking up and Debbie and I planned to marry.
The fact
that Debbie was a black girl however created a rift between my mother
and I and a few comments in Oklahoma City, which has plenty of Native
Americans but very few black people.
could sense that I was now the topic of some of that derogatory gossip
Angela had endured.
graduating.
to perform its one daily duty and I awoke twenty minutes late. The damn
batteries decided to die at four in the morning.
still make it to class on time.
I had
to
call a cab.
Because
into the
to school
abilities and frequent "socializing" and regular hangovers, we had long ago
agreed not to wake one another at the risk of personal
Besides
sleeping
in during
a drab Oklahoma
bodily harm.
Having to hail a cab really ticked me off because just two weeks ago I
had bought a used car to contend with the brutal winter months of OKC.
But in selecting this car, I made the fatal mistake of choosing it with my
149
car on the
lot, a
1975 Austin
Marina
for three
thousand dollars.
It ran just fine for a month until the water pump failed
and I quickly learned that there wasn't a single Austin dealer in all of
Oklahoma City and even the dealer in Fort Worth, Texas had to special
order the part for me. So after calling for a cab, I shaved, dressed, and
jumped
into some clothes and headed out the door. Cabs in OKC arrive
Our apartment was up on the second floor and the stairways going down
to the parking lot were concrete and exposed to the elements. In my rush to
catch the cab I saw circling the parking lot like a vulture in search
I forgot that the stairwell
had a tendency
of lunch,
located.
But the second step down quickly reminded me of this fact as my foot
found zero traction and I went flying
through
notebook
and ATC
in different
onlooker
it must
course manuals
directions.
my
To an
with
Normally this
might be the best place to land except that the point of impact was my
tailbone
I was
hoping that the pain would subside and I could still manage to go to class.
150
But it didn't.
I was excused from class for the day and advised to come see the flight
surgeon at the academy for an examination.
that I should just relax and perhaps the pain would fade.
first day of any class that I had ever missed and I was worried how much
catch-up I'd have to do since each class was just packed full of new
information to build upon what we already learned.
The throbbing
pain soon
in our bathroom
looking
had me digging
for some
aspirin.
through
Luckily
a bottle of
I stole
two tablets from the bottle and retreated to the sofa where I laid on my
side and soon fell asleep.
came home.
I was relieved to find that the pain had subsided quite a bit
and I assumed that by morning I'd be fully recovered and back at the
academy.
But that evening after cooking up some pasta for dinner I made
an agonizing discovery. The phone rang and I went to sit down on the
sofa to answer it, and YEOOOOWI
I was
okay so long as I stood up and walked around, but it was impossible for me
to sit down on even the bed without a jolt of pain that would throb for ten
or fifteen minutes after I sprung to me feet.
me to miss my second
day of class and after he had some x-rays taken and tenderly probed the
area with his fingers he gave me the following report "For sure your coccyx
is bruised and perhaps you might have a hairline fracture as well.
We just
151
can't be sure from this X-ray because the fracture could be on the front
side of your tailbone.
to four weeks.
butt".
That
We concluded
it would
I might be able to get by with one of those little inflatable inner tubes that I
could sit on.
I went out to the local drug store and bought one. I had
already missed two full days, and I didn't want to miss a third or I'd be really
behind the pack of my peersOn day three I attempted to attend class with
the help of the goofy inner tube
by tailbone
that
it was fully
inflated,
still managed to just touch the top the seat surface and even
slight contact
caused
bursts
of extreme
grew
unbearable.
I consulted with the flight surgeon yet again and he ordered me to take a
week
off.
disadvantage
A week
away from
class would
surely
put me at a major
and for the first time I thought I would be so far behind the
But then I got a bit of good news from a Mr. John Buzan who worked in the
Administration office.
He told me that the FAA had contingency plans for just such cases and that
their policy was to "recycle" any student who missed more than five days of
classes. Recycling meant that I would be pulled from my graduating class
and be reinserted into the class behind ours at the same point in training
where I was forced to drop out. I assumed that this would just be a week or
152
two at the most, but learned from John that the next class had just started
and it would be at least 68 days before I could be inserted into that class.
What would I do for 68 days I asked?
already learned and pretend you're a tourist for a few weeks" was his reply.
I had little choice
because my previous seniority working for Uncle Sam gave me the right to
collect sick pay.
much to see and do in Oklahoma City and my ass was still sore. Luckily we
had cable TV and I discovered a lot of channels I never knew even existed
and my sanity managed to remain intact.
day, reviewing all that I had learned to date and kept drawing that damn
map so I wouldn't forget it. Even today, more than ten years later, I am still
able to draw that map! I sent for Debbie and she joined me for some
time together.
After experiencing an
One
morning
the phone
partner?" he asked.
rang.
It was John
Buzan.
"How ya feeling
'Hey Gorcyca,
I need to speak
afternoon".
"Sure
and I went
no problem"
I replied.
We
made
an appointment
153
Yet another 3D airspace map that must be memorized by pilots to guarantee separation between
commercial, military, and civil aircraft.
That
afternoon
when
I visited
John's
office
at the academy
he
ushered me into an office that wasn't his and closed the door behind e. He
had a serious
asked me "Are you good friends with Angela Smith?" he asked. "Not really,
why?" I asked thinking that she must have had an accident or something.
But instead of answering my question he had a list of his own.
"When
was the last time you spoke with her? "Months ago, why?" "Did you
ever date her?"
"No".
"A witness to
you aren't a witness after all - good! The little bitch is lying!"
"A witness
I asked again.
"Oh the
he blurted.
little cunt
I asked
class.
innocently.
Buzan just
154
glared at me and
"You were there?"
upset him.
When I recalled
the incident from my memory John just rocked back in his chair, let out a
long sigh, and stared up at the ceiling for over a minute.
Finally he leaned
forward in his seat and asked me "Do you like paperwork Gorcyca?" "Not
especially"
I replied.
"Good -
neither
these walls let's agree here and now that you never saw any such thing
okay?"
away.
As I searched
for words
I couldn't
answer
right
liked veteran instructor around here and we're not going to let some horny
tramp ruin his reputation and cost him a pension".
I finally found a few words, but they might not have been the ones that
John Buzan wanted
to
hear "Look
myself but if you're asking me to lie for him, I won't do it". Buzan then slid
a pre-typed form in front of me as he tried to persuade me to "just sign it".
"I'm not asking you to lie for anyone
Gorcyca,
I'm just
asking
you to
sign this paper and the subject is closed and will never be raised again.
As I read the incident report form it was supposedly completed by me and
merely stated "I have
no recollection
of any misconduct
of any FAA
being
that John
put
Buzan
in
came
this
to
awkward
my rescue
position
and
I felt
especially
offered
to
155
He was clearly disappointed with my decision not to decide there and then, but
he gave me a self -addressed stamped envelope and handed it to me with
the form. "Fine, just get this back to me in the mail within the next ten days".
nodded again and made my way to the door. As I opened it, he made one last
remark that in hindsight, I should have paid more attention to, "Gorcyca, you owe
me this favor partner". Maybe in his mind I did. But from my viewpoint he was
just doing his job in recycling me. After all, he did say that recycling was a
standard FAA "policy"
and form in half and dropped them into the first trashcan I passed on my way out.
There was no way that I could ever let myself sign that paper, and now I was
curious as to what new developments between Ace and Angela had taken place
in my absence. At first I thought about looking her up to find out but then after
second thoughts, decided it would be best to just distance myself from the mess.
Sure enough, some ten days later I got a follow-up call from John Buzan asking
me if I forgot to mail him that form. "No John, I didn't forget to mail it in - I
decided against it.
I really don't want to get involved and I'm not going to lie
for anyone". "I see" was all he said before saying good-bye. I recall that I was
perhaps about 20 days or less from resuming my training at this point in
time.
Jacksonville
be returning to
exams and washed out of the program. He was already on a Greyhound bus on
his way home.
to take their places and help me defray the costs of the apartment.
Perhaps a week after I got that last call from Buzan, I received a form letter from
the flight surgeon's office saying that he determined that "due to my injuries" I
would be disqualified from further service as a radar center ATC since it
required long periods of sitting behind a radar screen.
It was
his
156
I noticed
that a copy of the letter was copied to "J. Buzan". It didn't take me more than
two minutes to see the writing on the wall.
office with his letter in hand, but the receptionist said he was "too busy" to see
me. I made an appointment for the following day.
When I returned to Buzan's office he coyly asked me if I was there to sign his
form.
In reality he knew damn well why I was there and I handed him the flight
Gorcyca - I'm so sorry". I stood there biting my lip wondering what sort of letter
they sent to Angela. "What can you do about this Mr. Buzan?" I asked only to
be told that my employment was no longer in his hands as an "administrative"
matter and emphasized that it was now a "medical" matter.
game for now and so I casually inquired "Okay then, what other non radar center
positions are open?"
only two jobs that he said were open were called FSS positions (Flight Service
Station) and one was in Anchorage, Alaska and I seem to recall the other was
somewhere in Maine.
no intention of
relocating to
anywhere that
had a winter
after
being
completely spoiled by my years in Puerto Rico and Miami. "This is about Angela,
isn't John?" I asked unable to remain silent any longer. "I don't know what you're
talking about Gorcyca, but if you want to reconsider signing that form, I might
be inclined to speak with the flight surgeon on your behalf first thing in the
morning". Now a rage was building up inside of me and I knew I had to get out
of that office quickly before I blew up on the guy".
157
The military has their own ATCs and their control zone extends from 50,000 feet to the edge of space.
By the time I had gotten back to the apartment, Phil had left me a note on the
refrigerator that John Buzan had called. Still furious, I picked up the phone and
gave John a call. "I got a message that you called John".
just calling to see how you wanted to resolve this little problem?" he asked.
I didn't
well so I hope you will keep your word and recycle me as you promised to do
two months ago." He openly laughed for a few seconds and then told me "You
either drag your butt down here to sign those papers or start packing for Alaska
or Maine."
The next day I typed up a letter of resignation citing "personal reasons" and
delivered it personally to the director of the academy and dropped
copy at John Buzan's office.
off a
following day, and within 72 hours, I was driving back to Miami as an angry
158
man but having the personal assurance that I did the right thing under the
circumstances,
and doing the right thing has always been a priority for me.
Those nuns at St. Charles did their job maybe a little too well. My mother
berated
academically.
since
But over the years she came to realize that if I had to play
those sort of games at the FAA on a regular basis, I would have been
miserable.
even knows why I left the FAA. I'm sure they must have played a few
games with her as well.
But my stay in Oklahoma City would become worthwhile and most memorable to
me for yet an incident that had no bearing on my ATC Training.
During my
medical leave period, I grew bored and frankly, unless you like drinking and line
dancing, there was not a whole lot to do for fun. I decided one night to go shoot
some pool (billiards) and finally found a bar that had one. It was full of most
native Indians and a handful of what I presumed to be ATCs. The pool table was
fairly new and regulation size and I ordered a drink and put my pack pack down
on a table. I then put my quarter up the pull table and noticed there were about
five players waiting ahead of me. I was not sure if wed be playing for money but
was not worried about it. I usually won anyway my duty nights in the Coast
Guard gave me ample time to perfect my skills.
I was
curious but did not want to be too nosey What kind of tunnels like subways? I
asked. He smiled and just said Sort of. I was not aware of any subway system
in Oklahoma City and asked if they were building one.
Then as to change the subject, he said Have you ever seen a UFO? When I
replied that I had and in fact might have seen two, he seemed surprised and
asked me to tell him about it. I explained how I had seen a rather huge one in
Puerto Rico fly over Ramey AFB, and how I thought I saw another one at sea,
but could not be certain what it was, but that it maneuvered in such a crazy way, I
assumed it was nothing known to man. Then he asked me to start describing the
maneuvers and when I did, he assured me matter of factly, that the second
sighting was also a UFO. Wow, this was one of the first guys I met in the world
who did not poke fun at me when I said I saw a UFO! His attitude made me
160
curious so I asked him Have you ever seen a UFO Phil? His swished his drink
around in his glass, paused, and then simply said, quite a few my friend. Again
he said it with such conviction, I could not doubt him, so I pursued the
conversation So you think theres life out there huh? Without a doubt son
was his reply.
Just then his pager went off. As he glanced at his beeper his face became a bit
serious and then a scowl. Fortunately there was a pay telephone on the wall
about 10 feet from our table and he immediately went to use it. I could not help
to hear his side of the conversation and I heard him say Look Colonel rank is
no indication of intelligence. You can listen to me or follow-orders whatever you
like. But Im telling you that when it comes to the Grays, the good general has
his head up his ass. We need their help and cooperation and what you just
proposed will destroy my last three years of progress. If you have to use a torch,
fine but no gas do you understand? The other party then must have talked for
about a minute before P hil finally said Well, then Colonel, please leave me out of
your incident report, and if my name shows up in there, be damn sure that I am
on record as opposing any physical violence or pepper spray am I clear? He
then slammed down the phone in anger. He came back to the table extremely
agitated. Problems at the office? I joked trying to calm him down. He said
nothing at first and guzzled down his drink. I have an ignorant asshole for a
boss. He tried to explain. Theyre everywhere, but calm down guns and
bullets are both quite affordable I joked again. He was still clearly pissed off.
Put a star on someones shoulder and they think they automatically transform
into a fucking genius! is all he said before he stood up, grabbed his coat of the
chair, slapped a $20 bill on the table and strode out the door too consumed
with his thoughts to even say good bye. I could not decipher what just happened
but I could summarize that Phil was clearly an intelligent guy, sincerely steamed
161
about something that occurred and some Colonel was stuck in the middle of a
dispute.
Beyond that I could not grasp what transpired and I assumed the
grays were some reference to a team like the reds ad the blues. Maybe a
team of engineers I thought.
On the chair next to him, Phil had left a brochure from Harris Corporation and
inside the brochure a few names and telephone numbers were scribbled. At this
time, I cannot recall the details but the brochure was about some ultrasonic
electronic devices and crowd control, frequency jamming, and perimeter
security. All of this made me curious at the time, but nothing more. Hey shorty
youre up! I heard some call from the pool table.
I played five games, earned $25 and then called it a night. I gave the brochure to
the barmaid and told her to hold it in case a guy named Phil came back looking
for it. She smiled and nodded.
My short and temporary friendship with Phil Schneider lasted all of maybe 45
minutes and I really did not know what to make of it all. It would be more than a
decade later that I would ever hear the name Phil Schneider mentioned again.
When I did, I almost fell out my chair. I was reading about an airline pilot who
reported a near miss with a UFO and
aviation technology (I was curious how these craft could maneuver so well
without the issues of lift or drag traditional aerodynamics) and saw some
reference in a post to a man named Phil Schneider who was murdered. Could it
be the same guy? As clicked on all the links I finally came across one that had
his photo a bit older but not by much. It was the same man. I wont ruin your
surprise so just Google on your own Phil Schneider, UFOs, murder and see
162
what this man really did for a living and what his wife has to say about his strange
death. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Phil Schneider was quite
sane, very intelligent, and a credible man.
is that it shattered
Before attending
those classes
my
I never
thought twice about flying and didn't even know what a "near-miss" was.
Now I know there are dozens of these "near-misses"
and
Yes indeed,
skies
heavily-dependent
frequency.
most stressed.
the
retrospect,
highways,
least-appreciated
these days.
government
employees
are probably
of a thousand
one
of the
training so rigorous.
was
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