Faith, Family, Energy and Oxygen: Colonel Jerry & Michelle Gandy "walked the walk" in caring for Edwards

  • Published
  • By Mike Strickler
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Tucked among the lazy rolling knolls at midpoints between the Big Easy and Meridian, a young ROTC cadet pondered two things distinctly on December 23, 1981; one, who was the young woman whom had smitten him only minutes before and, two, how was he going to get past her football player brother.

So stood the impetus for this self-proclaimed "country boy" to join hands with the love of his life and jaunt across the nation and to points beyond, establishing the legacy of Col. Jerry Gandy, the 95th Air Base Wing commander, who retires today after an impressive and distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force. Earlier this week I sat down with Colonel Gandy and wife Michelle to recap that journey, which began in the learned halls of the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg some 26 years ago.

As a young sophomore Colonel Gandy was a man of few passions but those he held, family, faith and flying, were as much a part of him as the air he breathed. The faith came from family, as did his desire to fly.

"I had always wanted to fly, I think, from about the time I did some flying with my dad's distant cousin, who owned a little charter service," Colonel Gandy said. "Somewhere along the way I didn't get to fly anymore, but I always had in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a pilot."

But not just a pilot; flying as an Air Force pilot was his desire and his notion of service came from a new president with a vision of America revitalized.

"I was drawn to the Air Force because I wanted to be part of something great," he said. "It was the 1980s and the military was on the way back up. Ronald Reagan was President and he invigorated and excited us about being part of something pretty great for our nation."

Colonel Gandy accepted an ROTC scholarship and completed a degree in economics before the Air Force called him, but not as a pilot.

"I got a navigator's slot out of college because all the pilot slots were spoken for, so I was a little melancholy in leaving Southern Miss," he said. "Michelle graduated a year early so we could marry before heading to Mather AFB in Sacramento for training."

But before he left, Colonel Gandy took some sage advice from a smart NCO that eventually led him to the front seat of an F-15 fighter.

"He told me, 'Hey look, if you want to go to pilot training then go to navigator school and do well,'" Colonel Gandy said. "He said, 'Graduate well in your class and you'll get to pick the aircraft you want; pick the F-4 and then apply for pilot training.' And that's exactly what I did."

As a navigator trainee Colonel Gandy learned about the rigor of precision and found the coursework academically challenging, even somewhat more than actual flying. His need to achieve in order to meet his ultimate goal proved a trend throughout his career.

"I found out that if you just study and apply yourself a little bit, it's not too hard to do okay" he said, "and that kind of stayed a consistent theme throughout the rest of my career. I did okay in the things necessary to get the airplane I needed in order to become a pilot and, from there, I've always liked doing something well if I am capable of it."

"In my talks with young people I tell them to never waste the opportunity to apply yourself in a formal course the Air Force has sent you through, Colonel Gandy said. "One, they are paying you to be there, so you want to get everything out of it you can; two, you may be pleasantly surprised toward the end that you really did well."

In the course of his career Colonel Gandy strove to do things to his utmost abilities, and those choices ultimately defined the excellence sought in a warrior, commander, father and friend. It is a life lesson that he readily passes on as a senior mentor at Edwards.

"There is a certain amount of internal pride in knowing that you applied yourself and did the best you could," Colonel Gandy said. "As a commander it's called walking the walk, and I've found that the way you go about it ultimately defines the road you travel, whether as a senior NCO, a senior officer, a commander or a senior executive service leader."

Once in the cockpit Colonel Gandy earned a reputation as a vigorous fighter pilot, pushing himself to know and fly the F-15 with great effectiveness, a synchronicity that led to key leadership positions and command assignments that included commanding a 16-ship attack flight during the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Still, the accomplishments he credits to Michelle, whom he calls "his oxygen."

"I'm not sure what it takes to be someone's oxygen; I just do what I do and sometimes I'm not really good at it either," Michelle said. "I mean, I get upset and mad and frustrated and stressed, and sometimes Jerry has to come home and deal with issues because I have been dealing with them all day and I'm like, 'I can't do this anymore.'"

Colonel Gandy had a better answer.

"She unconditionally loves me, is truthful about where I'm at and what I need to think about," he said. "She's what makes me feel good on this earth, and I can't say it any other way. I get a comfortable feeling just hearing her voice or knowing I'm around her and my shoulders relax when I'm near her," he said.

"And we are different people," Michelle added. "He's a check-the-box kind of guy ... actually makes a list with little boxes in it and checks them off as he goes ... but I'm more laid back and my lists just float from day to day."

"I'm the kind of person who can go to bed at night with dishes still stacked in the sink," she said.

The difference in personalities has worked well for Edwards AFB as Michelle's keen involvement with base families and civic outreach parallels her husband's drive in meeting mission requirements. Still, they are both very attuned to caring for the Edwards family as a whole and their joint experience is something worthy of passing on.

"I wish I could sum it up in a few words but I'd focus on supporting the Airman and Family Readiness Center, working closer with Airmen and spouses of our deployed, and being really involved with the communities around the base," Michelle said. "And it's not about just being a full-time volunteer; these are the things you do to have a full rounded life and develop yourself as a person."

Colonel Gandy's focus on caring begins and ends with his family, from whom he draws his energy.

"They did a peer evaluation on me at Air War College and the guy who debriefed me said 'it looks like you get your personal energy from your faith and your family, especially your immediate family.' That's the answer; he was absolutely right, it all comes back to faith and family."

"And we never forget that our girls, Meaghan, Meredith and Mallory, have served as much as we have," Michelle reminded. "They have moved many times, attended many different schools and were consistently in the mode of making and leaving friends - military children lead difficult lives, but become some of the best, most flexible and approachable people, and we couldn't be prouder of them."

After more than two years at the helm of the 95th Air Base Wing the Gandy's head off to their next adventure, this time at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb., where he'll serve as a senior executive service leader and Michelle will continue to serve with those around her, out of uniform perhaps but never out of touch with the Air Force.

A new challenge, again, but the Gandy's are an Air Force family up to the task.

"When they first said I was coming to Edwards as a Wing commander I thought, well, it's an AFMC base and I think I shot an approach there one time," Colonel Gandy said. "Honestly, I wasn't even sure if I was qualified to do that kind of job and, yeah, it shook my confidence because I wasn't raised to do that in the Air Force."

"But I found the best part of the job was the people and I really enjoyed learning what it takes to support the many Air Base Wing functions needed to run a base," he said. "I learned for the first time in my career how important developmental test is, what it takes to make a runway, how to support housing, how to conserve energy on the scale of a small city, the mass involved in managing an effective communications infrastructure, the importance of providing MWR and services, on and on."

"All those things I knew nothing about before coming to Edwards, and I'm so thankful that I learned about them among some of the best people in the Air Force," he said.