Willi Springer

I figured I’d hop on and give a little status update. After high school I went to Utah State and got my bachelors in history, my all-time favorite subject (and to anyone who had to endure history class with Mr. Haeberle and me in the same room, well, I’m sorry, we could get a little carried away). While at USU, I got married to my wonderful wife, Jaime. We had known each other since we were 7, so we go back a ways.

When I graduated college, I also simultaneously commissioned as a 2LT in the Air Force, something I had wanted to do since I can remember. I asked for, and received, a position in the Space and Missiles career field. After a couple of training assignments, we found ourselves in Great Falls, Montana, where I had been given an assignment as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launch officer. ICBMs can be a challenging job, as I quickly found myself in charge of 200 nuclear missiles in a missile field the size of West Virginia.

Not long after we got up north, our first son, Axel was born. Two years later Schrade followed. Axel starts kindergarten this fall, where has the time gone? Not going to lie, I kinda liked the boys when they were small and liked to cuddle up on the couch while I passed out. Transformers, Sponge Bob and Lightning McQueen are recurring themes in the house, and I wind up (twist my arm here, come on) re-living a lot of childhood memories playing with them. Here pretty soon I’m going to start working on making both of them crack shots. Not to toot my own horn, but somebody’s got to take over when I move on. Unfortunately working with nukes kept me away from the boys pretty frequently, nothing like getting stuck at work an extra day because it’s -77 outside with wind. Your lungs start to freeze at -70, so I guess from a safety standpoint it’s not such a bad idea to wait a bit.

I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to have some positive career changes allowing me out of the missile gig into the space side of the house where I am now. While I was still in Montana I finished my masters in Space Operations Management. To burn spare time I’ve signed on as an adjunct instructor for Embry-Riddle, teaching masters level space studies courses for them.

We’re in California right now so I can play space man while simultaneously hanging out with my family a lot more. I dislike California for a number of reasons, but I DO NOT WHATSOEVER miss firing up the snowblower on a semi-daily basis. Sunshine is a nice change.

I’ll continue to be a military guy for as long as the Air Force decides to keep me around. Hey, I’m predictable. Sadly, I won’t be able to hang out with you guys at the reunion. Next time I promise I’ll have more of a tan line and more ridiculous war stories to tell. If anybody ever wants to talk, I’m on the facebooks periodically, or if you want a more serious conversation shoot me an email at springerwj@yahoo.com. Pour out a root beer for me!