NARRATED ORAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The following was initially compiled by Brenda Paprocki, MSgt, USAF, Retired - And the first AWS Female Paratrooper
Final edit by JR
"Before his tragic death, SMSgt (Retired) Ron Kellerman sent me a narrative detailing his Air Force career, including his considerable time as a Special Operations Weather Team (SOWT) NCO. True to his humble nature, Ron never mentioned his numerous awards, or his inductions into both the Air Commando’s and Grey Beret Association’s Hall of Fame.
Here is Ron’s story:"
RHK ~
Ron joined the Air Force in December 1976. He was a law-enforcement specialist, and his first assignment was to Zaragoza Air Base (AB), Spain. It was at Zaragoza that Ron met his future wife Maria, and where he learned about weather observing from the observers he met at the remote observing site.
“I figured it (weather) had to be better than police work which was 90% boredom, and 10% terror,” Ron stated.
His next assignment was to Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB), Arkansas in December 1980. After a year there he crossed trained into the Weather Career Field.
After graduating from Weather Observer School in 1981, he headed to MacDill AFB, Florida.
“At MacDill I met the likes of Major Wilbur Hugli, and Lt. Michael Davenport who were both assigned to 1st Weather Squadron supporting US Readiness Command (USREDCOM) and US Central Command (USCENTCOM),” Ron wrote. “As you may or may not know, the building that housed USREDCOM became the US Special Operations Command, USSOCOM. I was transferred from the Base Weather Station (BWS) to work there.”
After MacDill, Ron went to forecasters school, and because he’d volunteered for jump school, got an assignment to Ft. Bragg, N.C. in March of 1985. He got his jump school slot only a few days after arriving at Bragg.
“I had no uniforms or boots, other than my blues, so the team scrambled to get me some fatigues …I bought some old boots at a surplus store, and Al Gillespie gave me another pair,” Ron stated.
Ron had some issues with his ankle at Jump School, but graduated and returned to Ft. Bragg. He was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group (SFG).
“I was the team NCOIC since I spoke some Spanish,” Ron wrote. “I had Jeff Schmidt as my observer, and Bill Spendley was my OIC. Eventually Jeff Johnson, Kevin Cummings, Tim Blair, and Johnny Reid all showed up at Ft Bragg, and we had one hell of a crew…Andy Anderson was there, Steve Lord, Ed Simon, Jim Norris, and Bob Madison at the BWS as a civilian,” he continued. “LeighAnn Siedlarz, you (Brenda Frazier), and Kathy Jodoin also showed up during my first tour.”
Ron said during this time is when the development of the Goldwing High-Frequency (HF) Radio Communication System started.
“Cory Knowles, myself and some folks from Forces Command were able to develop the Goldwing, which essentially revolutionized how we passed data in the field,” Ron stated. “It took a couple of years, but I believe it was our greatest accomplishment.”
During this time, Ron and Major John Conley worked with 7th SFG at the forefront for Operation Just Cause.
“Using one of the GRID Case Computers for the Goldwing I started working on an Annex H (weather appendix) for 7th SFG(A)’s plan,” Ron stated. “I finished the Annex H, went back to my normal duties and got ready to PCS to Rhein Main, Germany.”
Ron was supposed to be starting up a weather team like the SOWT at Hurlburt to support the 39th SOW, but that wasn’t to be. Ron was relegated to work at the BWS.
When Panama kicked off in December 1989, Ron said he was “just a bit pissed that I had missed my opportunity, especially since I had done the planning for 7th SFG.”
In July of 1990 Ron got a reprieve from the Weather Station, and was called on to help with the deployment of forces to the Middle East.
“Myself and SSgt Trevor Strahan deployed on August 2, to parts unknown,” Ron stated. “We had no idea where we were going, or for how long. We were deploying with a Military Airlift Command Airlift Control Element (MAC ALCE) team to establish an airhead,” he continued. “We ended up in United Arab Emirates (UAE) where we established an airhead for 363rd Fighter Wing (FW) from Shaw AFB, S.C.”
Ron established contact with the UAE Weather personnel who allowed them to calibrate their barometer, and they began to transmit observations via the MAC ALCE communications. They used the Goldwing, Key tapes, and approved Communications-Electronics Operation Instructions (CEOI), but there was no one up to transmit the traffic.
“Then one afternoon, I hear a voice call on the frequency asking for a radio check. It was someone using “ROVER 77” which was my call sign at Ft. Bragg,” Ron stated. “It turned out to be Jeff Johnson (JJ) who had arrived at Dharan, and was helping the weather folks get the Goldwing up and running. We ended up passing some message traffic back and forth that afternoon. It wasn’t until that happened that GOLDWING communications became routine.”
On August 29th after the C-5 crash at Ramstein AB, Germany Ron’s team was split up, and he was sent to Al Ain, UAE along with Chris Rambali. They set up a weather station then Rambali was sent back to Al Dhafra.
“Eventually, I was sent some additional USAF Weather personnel from around the theatre,” Ron stated. “I ended up with one forecaster and 3 observers. We worked and lived out of the weather station for a few weeks before the civil engineer folks came in.”
The 314th Tactical Airlift Squadron (TAS), a C-130 unit from Rhein-Main showed up, and Ron knew most of the pilots. So, he was able to get the weather team their own Temper Tent, and an observation tower was built above the camouflage netting.
When Lt Col Gerald Riley, Central Air Forces (CENTAF) Senior Meteorological Officer (SMO), showed up at Al Ain for a visit, Ron showed him how you could hook up the Goldwing for teletype. LtCol Riley liked the idea, so he took it back to the Tactical Forecast Unit (TFU) to implement it there.
“It was after this that I started to get taskings to travel throughout the theatre fixing and helping to establish communications between weather stations,” Ron wrote. “I was in the desert a total of 7.5 months, and when I got back to Rhein Main in April 1991, I was glad to be home.”
Ron wasn’t there long before he deployed to Incirlik AB, Turkey for Operation PROVIDE COMFORT II, supporting the 39th Special Operations Wing (SOW) squadrons who were doing airdrop support to the 10th SFG that were on the ground in northern Iraq. He returned to Rhein Main in February 1992.
In July 1992 Ron returned to Bragg and was the Communications NCO for the unit as well as supplementing the 7th SFG team. He also became one of the augmenters for the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).
In October 1993 Ron deployed to Somalia to provide weather support and to reestablish upper air soundings.
“I remember meeting with (LtCol) Rip Coleman in the compound so he could give me the lay of the land in Mogadishu Airport,” Ron wrote. “He arranged for the Joint Communications Unit (JCU) to leave a phone line that ran to the weather tent.”
Ron used the phone line to get AFDIS (AF Weather Agency Dial-in Subsystem), and NODDS (Navy/NOAA Oceanographic Data Distribution System), products and download data from both AFGWC (AF Global Weather Central) and FNMOC (Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center). He spent 3 months in Mogadishu and was there when CW3 Durant was repatriated.
In September 1994 Ron built a huge HF antenna array in the backyard of the Squadron to support UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. It provided the guys that deployed with data for a full 12 hours a day.
In July 1999, Ron went to Hurlburt Field to be the NCOIC, Weather Operations for the 720th Special Tactics Group (STG). Two years later he started to work at the AFSOC Directorate of Weather (DOW).
On September 11, 2001 Ron was the primary jumpmaster prepping for a HAHO jump on Field 6.
“We watched in awe on the TV in the briefing room at Duke Field, when all hell broke loose,” Ron stated. “We all gathered up our shit and headed back to Hurlburt Field. Units began to assemble and deploy…I was doing mobility and contingency planning…so I got a crash course in how to deviate from the war plans.”
Ron was tasked to augment AVTEG (JSOC) in October 2001 and spent 90 days augmenting at Ft. Bragg. He retired as an SOWT SMSgt in June 2003 and started working at AVTEG WX (JSOC) in August 2003.
“I won’t spend any time talking about my time at AVTEG WX, other than to say it was very rewarding and I still miss it,” Ron wrote, “I retired from AVTEG WX as a GS-1341/13 Step 6 after 15 years on the compound.
The troops bought a memorial brick which is placed at the JSOC Memorial Wall at the center of the compound, so I will forever be part of JSOC.”