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Jonathan Harris is an airman

He served 50 years in the Air Force in active and reserve duty

Mr. Jonathan Harris poses with fellow Air Mobility Command Rodeo staff members in 2009 at McChord Field, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Photo credit: U.S. Air Force

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For Jonathan Harris, working for the Air Force has never been an I-can't-wait-until-it's-Friday kind of job. And that passion, that love for the service, best explains his nearly 50 years with the military.

"I love serving my country," Harris said. "I didn't want to take the uniform off."

In 1961, as a 17-year-old high school graduate from Salem, Va., Harris enlisted in the Air Force because he didn't want to go to college, and no jobs in his hometown appealed to him.

"It wasn't like I was going to just sit around," he said. "And the avenues there were (were) dead-end jobs."

At first, his mom said no to her son's request. But after he got her nod of approval, Harris' long Air Force career was launched.  

He did a seven-month tour in Guam in ‘66 and a year in Thailand in 1967-68. He got out in June 1969, and with his experience as an airplane mechanic, he got a job right away with Boeing. But that lasted only five-and-a-half months before he was laid off during a huge round of layoffs at the company.

Harris worked for a brief time at a Seattle weekly newspaper and, in November 1970, signed up with the 446th Airlift Wing on McChord Field as an air reserve technician. He worked as an autopilot specialist for the C-141 Starlifter. In 1979, he became an instrument shift foreman for the 62nd Airlift Wing and was promoted to master sergeant.

"It's a great way to give back," Harris said about his service.

In 2003, at age 60, he retired from his civil service position on McChord. Married and eligible to draw from his Reserve retirement, he figured he'd kick back and relax.

"I had gotten married, and I was going to be the house husband," he said.

And then his phone rang.

Lt. Col. Brian Crownover, who was the 62nd Mission Support Group commander at the time, wanted to know if Harris would be the director for the Air Mobility Command Rodeo, which was hosted by McChord. At first, Harris wasn't so sure.

"I said, ‘I'm retired, sir,'" Harris said. "And he says, ‘I'm looking for someone to start this program up. Would you be interested?' I said, ‘I can come and work as a contractor, but I'm retired from civil service.'"

So, Harris, unable to say no to an opportunity to again work for the Air Force, was hired as a contractor. And now, at age 71, he is still going to the office every day, planning and organizing the air rodeo and the air show as the deputy director. The shows occur every two years, which keeps Harris busy with the planning.

It's the people, the friendships formed in putting on the rodeo and air show, that keeps Harris coming back to the office. It's not so much the work. He's not a paper-pusher.

"I'm not really the guy who likes sitting behind a desk," he said.

Both the air rodeo (which involves loading cargo planes the fastest) and air show have been successful. Harris is quick to share the credit, indicating what kind of boss he is.

"The success has to do with the people who help put it on," he said. "People say I do a great job. I say no. I have a great staff. The staff is the one who makes everything look good."

"I'm very proud to be a veteran," he said. "I'm very proud to have served and to still serve my country. I'm still an airman. You don't have to have a uniform on to be an airman. All of us that work with McChord, we're airmen."

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