TCU Air Force veterans not seeking any special recognition
Two veterans attending TCU don’t ask for any special treatment this Veterans Day because they say they get all the recognition they want in the form of pride.
By Emily Baker
Features Editor

Alan Hotaling and Paula Sinde are nontraditional students at TCU. They are a little older than most of their classmates, and have families for whom to provide. But there is one other detail that makes these two stand out from the average Horned Frog — they are both veterans of the U.S. Air Force.

Neither of them said they consider themselves heroes for serving the country, but they both say they regard what they did to be pretty special. Though Veterans Day is Monday, these two said they get all the recognition they need simply in the pride they get from knowing they served selflessly.

“Serving my country was my decision,” Sinde said. “The pride that I feel from this is more important than any award or public recognition I could ever receive.”

Sinde, a sophomore nursing major, has been officially separated from the Air Force for less than two months. During her 12 years in the Air Force, Sinde mainly worked as a missile facilities technician, meaning she made sure the power supply and refrigeration systems were properly working.

Sinde said one reason she enlisted was the opportunity to travel. She was stationed in North Dakota for the entire duration of her service and left the Air Force to finish her degree. And, for the most part, her fellow students are compassionate about her veteran status.

“Most people are very supportive of veterans, but there are a few who just don’t get it. I have run into people who did not want anything to do with military folks,” she said. “It was very frustrating at times, but I learned to accept it and move on with my life. I knew what being in the Air Force meant to me, and I did not let other people’s feelings get in the way of what I felt was important.”

Hotaling said most students are more surprised to see a nontraditional student than they are to see a veteran.

“The biggest difference that I see is that it seems that the leadership responsibility always falls upon my shoulders for any group projects,” because he is older, the 43-year-old said.

Hotaling is a computer information science major and plans to graduate in December. When he began his service with the Air Force in 1978, Hotaling was a B-52 gunner. When that position was eliminated, he became a flight engineer for the H-60 Blackhawk. He was responsible making sure aircraft systems were properly working, diagnosing systems problems, making sure the aircraft had plenty of fuel and calculating how much fuel the aircraft would need, inspecting the aircraft to make sure it was safe for flight and figuring out the aircraft’s power supply requirements. The flight engineer is also the hoist operator.

“The hoist is used primarily to lift someone, possibly an injured individual, to the helicopter or lower someone to the surface in places where landing is not feasible,” he said. And he also had the job of directing the alternate insertion/extraction devices which he likened to a fireman’s pole.

The worst thing about Hotaling’s 20 years in the Air Force was being apart from his family, he said. But, he met his wife, Georgia, at the Non-Commissioned Officers Club at the former Carswell Air Force Base (which is now the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base located west of Forth Worth and north of Benbrook).

Both Hotaling and Sinde agree veterans are generally treated with respect, but what upsets Hotaling is a lack of respect for the symbol of those who never attained the status of veteran because they fell in battle.

“What saddens me is when someone doesn’t want to show the proper respect to the flag by not taking off their hat (when the flag passes by them) or not displaying the flag correctly,” he said. “But I believe the problem with this is the lack of education and tradition that has failed to be passed on.”

Rules for proper flag etiquette are found in Public Law 94-344, according to literature provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“After serving in the military, I don’t expect anyone to treat me any differently just because I served,” Hotaling said. “I served because I wanted to, not because I had to. That was my choice in life. I believe I made the best choice and am not unhappy with my choice.”

Emily Baker