This week’s Veteran is Jim Schoene, who served in the U.S. Army from 1967 – 1988. Schoene enlisted and received his basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He then attended Primary Flight School at the Warrant Officer Rotary Wing Aviator Course at Ft Wolters, Texas. He then transferred to Fort Rucker, Alabama, for Advanced Flight Training, where he was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO1) in February 1968, qualifying as a UH-1 ‘Huey’ pilot, and with the title of Army Aviator. That new title got him shipped off to Vietnam in 1968, and entitled Jim to be shot in flight by the enemy. Thankfully they missed. Schoene was deployed to Vietnam twice, from 1968-69, and 1972-73, when the Vietnam War was winding down. During deployments, Jim, who resembled British Actor Edward Fox when he was young, found time to court and marry a beautiful female Army officer and his bride, Kathleen. During his service time, Schoene flew many different types of helicopters. On his first Southeast Asia tour, he flew the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse, or Loach, which was a scout helicopter that looked like a teardrop on its side. During his second tour, was able to defend himself by flying the Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopters, which carried a fair amount of firepower. When stationed domestically or in Germany, Jim served as an operational pilot, test pilot, maintenance test pilot, standardization instructor pilot, and instrument flight examiner. He spent time at Fort Meade, MD; Fort Eustis, VA; Fort Rucker, AL; Los Alamitos, CA; and Yuma Proving Ground, AZ. While at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, he was a founding member of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, of ‘Black Hawk Down’ fame. Jim retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 in 1988. Schoene joined McDonnell-Douglas after retiring from the Army, as was a production and quality manager, working in The Netherlands. He retired again, this time moving to Montgomery County, where he volunteers as a Mentor for the Montgomery County Detention Center VET Pod, and also works with the Veterans Treatment Court in Conroe. Schoene will support Veterans at the drop of a hat, and he still has time to groom his famous handlebar mustache. Good Luck Jim, and Congratulations on being MCNs ‘Veteran of the Week’.
If the full content does not display, visit the article originally published on this site
