Raymond was born in Chillicothe, Missouri, and grew up around the construction industry, as his father Raymond was heavily involved in building airport runways in Alaska and Canada during WW-II. Graduating from St. Johns Military Academy in Salina, KS where he was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, Ray learned to fly in a Cessna 140. He did odd jobs at the local airport and got airplane rides with different people he met. Ray was able to make enough money to pay for flying lessons, and he went on to solo in the Cessna 140 Aircraft at 16 Years old and received his Private Pilot’s License before a driver’s license.
Ray joined the Navy Reserves August 10, 1956 and was an official (Airedale) at NAS Olathe, KS and was ordered to Navy Treasure Island in San Francisco June 16, 1957 eight days after his High School Graduation, there after he was assigned to Navy ASW Patrol Squadron VP-9 based at NAS Alameda, CA. The squadron was then sent deployed to NAS Kodiak/Adak, AK for the next seven months for Anti- Submarine Patrol duty and was the squadron that escorted our first Nuclear Submarine Nautilis on the first voyage under the polar ice cap in the artic.
The squadron was then returned to its home duty station at NAS Alameda, CA. While living in the San Francisco Bay Area (Palo Alto, CA) Ray completed his AA Degree at Foothill College and BSME Degree at Stanford University. He then applied for the Navy NAVCAD Program and was accepted and commissioned as a Lt. Jg,, completed Flight Training and as a Naval Aviator was moved around to various squadrons and duty stations both sea duty and shore duty for the next 23 years.
In 1962 the squadron Ray was attached to Navy ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) Patrol Squadron VP-872 that was deployed to NAS Barbers Point, HI, and JTF-8 (Joint Task Force Eight) In the South Pacific where he flew numerous Barrier Patrols in the Lockheed P2V-7 Patrol keeping the Russians in check during the 1962 Nuclear Tests. Ray personally witnessed 36 Atomic Bomb tests; the largest surface test was a 10 Megaton exploded from a distance of 20 to 30 Miles away (very close) and witnessed another detonation of a 50 Megaton Bomb (Starfish) that was detonated 91 miles in space and wasseen from Honolulu, Hi to Los Angeles, CA. The squadron was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and a Bravo Zulu--a Navy term for a job well done for flying over 4,900 hours or more than 750,000 miles without any incidents or accidents a perfect 4.0 safety record.
Subsequent to the Nuclear Tests Ray was transferred to the Replacement Air Group (RAG) NAS Kingsville, TX and Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Philippines for retraining in the Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk Ground Attack aircraft and then on to Aircraft Carrier Duty aboard several Navy ships, most notable the USS Enterprise (the Navy’s first Nuclear powered Aircraft carrier, launched in 1961) and USS Coral Sea for tours in Viet Nam in 1964, 1965, and again in 1967-68 Ray logged a total of 133 combat missions.
Being active in the aviation industry for so many years, Ray has also met and spoken with numerous times Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Wally Shirra, and Bert Rutan (developer of the first commercial space vehicle) and also Richard Branson CEO of Virgin Airlines and several other notable aviation types several times at various aviation trade shows and Aerospace events.
After his separation from Active Duty in the Navy, Ray went to work for Lockheed Aircraft Co. in Palmdale, CA for the next nine years as a Production Flight Test Pilot/Flight Engineer. Ray is a current FAA Rated Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Engineer rated in the B-727, L-1011 and DC-10-30. Ray is currently actively employed in the Aerospace industry as Director of Business Development for (Velocity Aerospace Group, Inc.) Burbank, CA.
Please put this meeting on your calendar and come hear Ray, tell his fascinating career story.