Editor's Note: For as long as this reporter has known her father, Col. Jerome Gouhin, he's served in the Air National Guard. From fighting in the Gulf War to becoming Wing Commander of the 130th Airlift Wing, Rachel, her mother, Diane, and her brother, Michael, have been along for the journey. Now, after 32 years, Jerome is retiring from his duties. He recently sat down with Rachel to reflect on the close of his career.
Whenever I introduce friends to my dad, the first thing I hear is, "Wow! He's really intimidating."
And I suppose this is somewhat true.
He is well above 6 ft. tall, has jet black hair, and sharp hazel eyes that automatically make you feel like you're in trouble. To make matters worse, he's usually wearing a cargo green flight suit with millions of zippers and badges.
At first glance, you might mistake him for a drill sergeant. But to me, he's just Dad.
I know him to be a goofball, an ice cream aficionado, a leader who cares for his airmen, and an overall easygoing man. He's not a drill sergeant who will scream in your face if you pronounce his last name wrong. Instead, he'll chuckle and say, "It's Gouhin. It rhymes with 'How ya doin', Gouhin?'"
So how did this intimidating goofball end up in the Air Force?
At the age of 24, Gouhin, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, moved to Charleston in the hopes of joining the Air National Guard. He had always wanted to be a marine biologist and pictured himself training dolphins someday. But as a senior in high school he flew in a discovery flight at an air show and fell in love with the world of flying.
"I never really considered flying as a career," he said, "because as a kid I was afraid of heights. So when I went on the discovery flight, it was a mixture of excitement and apprehension at the same time. But when we were actually flying it was exhilarating and the fear of heights went away.
"The excitement really just took over the fear."
In 1983, Gouhin joined the West Virginia Air National Guard and began a two-year training program that took him to Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Washington. The days consisted of learning about flying and how it affects the body. After time spent in the classroom, the students would go out in a plane and experience first hand what they had been learning.
"We covered all kinds of things," Gouhin said, "like how your body responds to sleep and how that affects your flying, emergency procedures if something in the plane fails, parachute landings, proper nutrition and fitness, changes in altitude, basic aerodynamics and navigation skills, weather preparations, survival training, and resistance training in case of capture."
The outbreak of the Gulf War led to his nine month deployment beginning in August of 1990, where he served as an aircraft commander. His deployment destination changed 72 times before settling on the United Arab Emirates.
"When we got there it was nothing but a 10,000 foot runway out in the middle of the desert with no electricity, no water, no food, no anything.
"We originally went as a volunteer package, which means we were supposed to come back after two weeks. But two weeks quickly turned into 30 days and 30 turned into 45 and then we were there as long as they needed us."
During Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he worked 21-hour days and delivered supplies by C-130s to Southwest Asia. The unit was officially mobilized as a war time mission during October of 1990.
"The night that the war kicked off, we were flying and we knew something was about to happen. But we didn't know what. A lot of times you could see anti-military aircraft shooting up, and it looked like fireworks out in the distance.
"I remember coming back into base that night and hearing the commander over the loudspeaker say, 'We are at war,' but that was it."
By April of 1991, Colonel Gouhin found himself back at the Air National Guard in Charleston. In 2002, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and in December of 2011 assumed command as the Wing Commander of the 130th Airlift Wing.
"It's the job of the Wing Commander to run the whole base. The position would be equivalent to a CEO in a lot of ways. It's my job to do policy making, decision making, interact with civilian agencies, help with state functions, balance our budget, and support local endeavors."
As Wing Commander, he is in charge of 1,100 people, eight C-130 aircrafts, and managing an annual $36 million budget for the entire base. Gouhin said the Wing Commander ensures that the Air National Guard's mission is being met at federal, state and local levels, while maintaining a standard of military readiness in case of war or attack.
Under his command, the 130th Airlift Wing has "been through a derecho, Super Storm Sandy, the Elk River chemical leak, two government shutdowns, sequestrations, and a National Boy Scout Jamboree."
He's had a lot on his plate, but he hasn't done it alone.
"As a wing commander I've always stressed that together each achieves more. It's amazing what people can do when you give them the authority and responsibility to do things and give them a goal.
"All you have to do is provide the resources for success and then sit back and watch them, guide them, embrace them and let them go - let 'em fly."
After a long career in the military, Colonel Gouhin is retiring from his role as Wing Commander. He has already changed command, but will not officially retire from the West Virginia Air National Guard until October.
In my 17 years with Colonel Gouhin, I have seen him care for his airmen and work hard to leave the Air National Guard better than he found it.
He gives up one weekend every month to go to the base for a unit training assembly, is occasionally late for dinner because he has to log a late flight, delivers death notices to families of fallen airmen with grace and sensitivity, and sees off men to deployments almost every day.
He does all of this and still finds time to change my flat tires, fix my broken ceiling fan and attend all of my volleyball and tennis matches.
He's both a hands-on dad and leader. He's given his all to his family and his work to ensure others are taken care of before himself. And for that I am proud to call him my father.