George Morgan Retires After 26 Years Of Service And
Self-Imposed Challenges
A long time ago, when George F. Morgan was a young Marine crew
chief, he borrowed a parachute from his pilot and hurled himself
from the open tail of a flying R4Q2 “Boxcar.” It just
seemed like the thing to do at the time. Granted, the
aircraft’s pilot didn’t think Morgan was really going
to do it when he asked. And certainly, the jumpmaster who was
readying the squad of infantry jumpers on static lines wasn’t
expecting it. The grunts themselves must have been quite surprised
when this young “winger” raced past them and dove into
the open blue sky.
Holy Geronimo.
But anyone who has known Morgan for the last couple of decades
probably wouldn’t be surprised at all. The man has always
kept an eye open for the next adventure to come along. In January,
Morgan retired from Naval Air Depot Cherry Point (NC) after 26
years of service. That was just the newest challenge in a string of
adventures that date back to the summer of 1956, when, barely out
of high school in Clifton Heights (PA), he jumped right into a
career with the Marines. “Everyone else in town was joining,
so I did too,” says Morgan, who was the last person to think
he would end up working in aviation. “The Marine Corps was
John Wayne digging a foxhole,” he says. “I didn’t
even know the Marines had aviation.” But by the time Morgan
finished his first aviation mechanics school, he was hooked.
Today, Morgan is probably one of the most knowledgeable
propeller guys around. His most recent duty here was as the
assistant program manager for propeller logistics. Look past the
fancy title and what you really see is a prop man to the bone.
Morgan first put his hands on a propeller nearly 50 years ago as a
young Marine working on aircraft here at Cherry Point. During his
first assignments, he served as a flight mechanic and in the
squadron Propeller Shop. This included crew and propeller work on
the R4Q2 and, later, the KC-130 “Hercules.”
Over the years, between repeated stints here at Cherry Point,
Morgan served on inspector and instructor duty – teaching
reservists the fine art of aircraft maintenance; recruiting duty
– convincing other young men and women that he wasn’t
the only one who could have fun in the Corps; and completing tours
of duty overseas – working in and eventually running prop
shops, as well as serving two tours as a C-130 aircrew member in
Vietnam.
After 20 years climbing the green side, he strapped on his chute
and bailed out for the next adventure. By then, aviation
wasn’t just a job for him, it was in his blood. So he spent
the next two years getting his associate’s degree in Aviation
Maintenance Technology, with a side of Accounting. He knew the deal
– advance your education, get a better job. Right? Which was
why he couldn’t understand why he was turned down for his
first application to work at the depot. “Overqualified”
he was told. So what if he had applied to work in sheet metal
– it wasn’t about what job he did – it was about
where he wanted to work, near those big things with wings and
propellers. After a telephone call to someone who could
“officially” point out it was dumb not to hire him, he
clocked in here for the first time in 1978.
Just over a year later,
he was sent where his talents could be used best – working as
an engineering technician on OV-10 propellers and power management
systems. Over time, this work evolved to include J59 engines, H-53
helicopters and the propellers that push Navy hovercraft across the
surface. During a previous round of base closures, Morgan drafted
the transition plan to bring prop work from Alameda (CA) to Cherry
Point.
So, what exactly did he do? “Just about anything that
deals with props,” he’ll answer. That included ordering
them, scheduling repairs, finding them, arranging for
transportation and shipping, getting parts and technical data
– the list goes on. A key component of his job was that he
directly supported the fleet customer. His role was not in
production, but more like the job done by the customer liaison team
here, except specifically for props.
Spending so much time in an office can be tough on an
adventurer. So Morgan made up for it over the years by finding his
adventures wherever he could outside of the job. Following a very
brief and one-way conversation with the air station commanding
general after that early unqualified jump from the R4Q2, Morgan
took up sky diving the legal way and accumulated more than 300
jumps.
But when he is in an
airplane these days, he doesn’t jump out of them, because he
is at the controls. A private pilot for 30 years, he has owned at
various times five different airplanes, including small
taildraggers with room for one- or two-person operation. “I
prefer flying low and slow,” says Morgan, who finds it much
more interesting flying at relatively low altitudes where he can
get a truer bird’s eye view of the terrain beneath him. The
tail-wheeled aircraft that he prefers are designed specifically for
this type of work, and for landing in small, out of the way
places.
“I don’t think anything frightens him,” says
Carolyn Morgan, who has endured the duties of adventurer’s
wife for the past four decades. Although he has sheltered his wife
from most of the scarier events, she has occasionally been a
somewhat reluctant participant. “I’m in awe of him and
what he can do,” she says. “He’s a very together
person,” she says, explaining that he is very meticulous when
it comes to flight preparation and safety. Carolyn won’t
forget one particular flight with him many years ago when they were
forced to land at an airport in Norfolk (VA) due to rough weather.
“I was afraid, but he calmly put it down just as smooth as
could be. You would have thought (Charles) Lindbergh had just
landed, the way they all came out and applauded.”
Perhaps his wife’s words say it all when she adds,
“He’s always done more or less what he wanted to
do.” That has included rebuilding old cars and, as a
certified airframes and power plants mechanic, old airplanes
– just for the fun of it. Anyone who has tried this sort of
thing will say you really have to love it or it’ll drive you
crazy. Airplane sales magazines are littered with unfinished kit
planes and restoration projects. For Morgan, it just seems to be
the thing to do at the time. Late last month, he traded his latest
project, a restored 1980 Corvette, for his sixth airplane, a Cessna
150.
Now, with his recent retirement, the adventure continues. Like
that first jump, he’s not sure where it will land him or what
he will do next, but, sometimes, that’s one of the best parts
of living in an adventure. Geronimo!
(Our thanks to Mike Barton, Public Affairs Specialist, for both
the story and photo of Mr. Morgan. ANN's Associate Editor Juan
Jimenez served at MCAS Cherry Point's Station Operations and
Engineering Squadron as a line avionics technician on SAR CH-46A's
about the time Morgan began his second career there, and has fond
memories of cold winter North Carolina nights on the flight line...
Brrr!)