Winiford Phillips was only 17 when he decided to join the United States Air Force on Dec. 17, 1952 in Montgomery.
He was living on a farm near Florala, and, without telling his parents, signed up to serve.
“I grew up on the farm, and I just decided that I wanted to go into the Air Force,” Phillips said. “I went from (the farm) to Geneva, saw the recruiter there, signed up, and then next day, they drove me all the way to Montgomery in one of their official cars.
“I didn’t ask (my parents)” Phillips said. “I just went. But, they didn’t say anything as far as I can recall.”
He went through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for 12 weeks.
He was then transferred to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas, for six months of aircraft school. It was there that he became a skilled mechanic for military aircraft.
His first assignment was at Lawson AFB at Fort Benning, Ga., where he was a mechanic on C-46 aircraft, which helped carry Army paratroopers.
While there, a tornado destroyed the planes causing the base to receive a new shipment of aircraft. It was one of 25 tornadoes documented in the area, according to the Laurens County Historical Society’s website.
“When that storm came through Lawson Air Force Base, that tornado, it just flipped them over backwards,” Phillips said. “It just laid them down on their back on top of other airplanes.”
The C-46 aircraft were then replaced by C-119 aircraft, which was also used to carry paratroopers and heavy equipment.
“I went on flying status as a flight mechanic on the C-119 aircraft,” Phillips said. “The line chief, he talked me into going on flying status.”
“Then they shipped us all out, we closed the base and went to North Carolina,” Phillips said.
He was stationed at Pope AFB at Fort Bragg, NC. This was where he experienced his first flight.
“I always enjoyed flying,” Phillips said. “My job was to survey all the instruments while we were flying and make sure everything was okay.
“We used to test fly those C-47’s. The old pilot, he would pull that thing up as high as it would go, just before it would stall it out, then he would bring it back down. That was a feeling.”
He was later transferred to Albrook AFB in the Panama Canal Zone, where he “was assigned to transient maintenance on incoming aircraft,” Phillips said.
From Albrook, he moved to Howard AFB, which was just across the Panama River.
“We transferred personnel to Howard AFB across the Panama Canal,” Phillips said. “I was assigned to the C-47 and C-131 aircraft as a flight mechanic and instructor. Our mission at Howard AFB was to provide support to the embassies and missions in South and Central America with supplies and personnel.”
During his time in South and Central America, from 1961-64, he experienced Panama riots and flew through the countries’ jungles.
“We flew all kinds of stuff down through those jungles for those missions and the embassies,” Phillips said. “Some of the runways, they were grass. Some of them were so narrow that the wingtips of the old C-47’s would hit little bushes. They would have green leaves on them when we got back home.
“Panama rioted one time. We were restricted to base while they were carrying on with the riots.”
He left Panama, and worked at a number of Georgia bases. These included Robins AFB at Warner Robins, Ga., where he was assigned as a mechanic on C-124 aircraft, and Dobbins AFB at Marietta, Ga.
“I transferred to an ‘A.R.T.’ position, which was an Air Reserve Technician position,” Phillips said. “We trained reserve personnel on C-124 aircraft. I held a dual status as an art technician and federal civil service.”
According to Phillips, the C-124 aircraft were unique because mechanics could work on the aircraft in the air.
“The C-124 you could (work on it in the air),” Phillips said. “If something went wrong with the engines, they had a hatch you could open inside the aircraft and go out onto the wing. There was a platform out there that went up to the back of the engine, and you could change your generator or starter in flight.”
While he never had to work on an engine mid-flight, he said he did experience engine failure on a four-engine aircraft.
He last worked at Eglin AFB at Fort Walton Beach, Fl., where he was promoted to Dock Chief Phase Inspections on C-130 aircraft until he retired in 1979 as a Master Sergent.
“I was assigned to the C-130 aircraft to train reserve personnel on the C-130 aircraft,” Phillips said. “The last (aircraft) I worked on was at Eglin. It was the C-130 gunship out of Vietnam. We were more or less restoring them. They would have bullet holes in them and all kinds of stuff. They were the early model C-130’s. They had the mini guns on each side, and they had the cannon in the back.”
Phillips served in the United States Air Force for over 41 years in both reserve and active duty.
“All total, I have 41 plus years,” Phillips said. “I had a lot of ready reserve time in that. I was a federal civil service employee during the week, and on weekends, a trained reservist on the aircraft.
“I enjoyed it most of the time, you know? It was just a job. A lot of them, they go in and they hate it. They can’t wait to get out.”
Phillips said that the military has changed since he served, especially with the use of technology.
“The Air Force has changed so much since I got out,” Phillips said. “We did everything by hand, paper work and pencil. Now it’s all computer work. Now, when they do an inspection on the airplane, they take a computer out there.”
After the military, Phillips enjoys life with his wife, Cassie, who he’s been married to for 10 years, and three children, one of which retired from the Navy as a master sergeant as well.
“The place that I grew up, they lived across the creek from us,” Phillips said. “(Cassie and I) knew each other as teenagers. Fifty years later, we got together. It was a blessing.”