rapidfire
“I Never Stop Serving
didn’t really know what I was get- ting myself into,” recalls retired Air Force Maj. Chris Larkin. After
enlisting in 1983 and completing basic train- ing, Larkin volunteered for combat control team (CCT) training. But at first, he understood very little about how these “battlefield air- men” link air and ground operations. “I only knew that I was going to jump out of airplanes and shoot guns and do stuff like that.” Larkin serves as president of the Combat Controllers Association (CCA), which honors Air Force CCT personnel who have served in mili- tary operations worldwide. Tell me a little bit about CCA and its membership. Our members include active, former, and retired combat controller enlisted person- nel and special tactics officers. The families of our fallen also are includ- ed. Finally, honorary memberships are given to a few leaders who have made significant efforts to support the organi- zation or the combat control career field. How is CCA’s role evolving? Our origi- nal objectives were to provide social and recreational activities for CCA members, perpetuate the memory of deceased CCT
veterans, and comfort their survivors. Those ob- jectives continue, but we’ve also become more of a service-based organization by supporting active duty airmen and their families where the military could not. When an airman [recently] went missing, we helped with expenses so that his father, an active duty combat controller stationed overseas, could participate in the search.
Because of the nature of the war
we’ve been in over the past 12 to 15 years, CCTs often are in very dangerous, very difficult missions. You have young airmen on radios leveraging all the capabilities of air and space power to execute critical missions. CCA wants to give them the maximum support possible.
You recently joined MOAA. What made you decide to join? A couple of reasons. One is that, more than ever, our military and veteran populations need representation before Congress, the Pentagon, and the Joint Chiefs. MOAA provides that. Additionally, as I grow in my post-military profes- sional career, MOAA provides good networking opportunities.
— David Sears Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
BOOK FLIGHTS OF NO RETURN (Zenith Press, 2015) Aviation history is rife with spectacular stories of successful flights — but what about the ones that didn’t go as planned? Flights explores the mysterious, contro- versial, and eerie stories
of doomed journeys throughout history.
EVENT TWILIGHT TAT- TOO (2016) Experience military history through live music and reenact- ments in the Washington, D.C., area, courtesy of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The
26 MILITARY OFFICER JUNE 2016
Old Guard) and the Army Band. Twilight Tattoo takes place each Wednesday eve- ning through August. For specific dates and addition- al information, visit www
.twilight.mdw.army.mil.
DVD THE HEAVY WATER WAR (2016) This
Norwegian miniseries, with English subtitles, depicts the Nazi attempt to cre- ate an atomic bomb using dirty water and the Allies’ desperate efforts to thwart any success. Heavy Water tells a true story portraying real-life characters over six 45-minute episodes. MO
PHOTO: MARI DARR~WELCH
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