Allison Angott

Hermitage, PA

U.S. Air Force, Desert Storm Era

In providing for its own needs, the United States military services play vital roles in fulfilling the needs of society at large. The Shenango Valley has a family practitioner because the United States Air Force enabled Dr. Allison Angott to get her medical degree.

“Without the Air Force,” she said, “I would have had to be a specialist to pay off the debts of medical school. I say to my patients I’m your tax dollars at work. I’m here as a physician because you helped me go to medical school. And I appreciate that.”

When she needed financial aid to attend medical school, she discovered the Air Force’s medical training program. Through it, she was able to earn her degree at the University of Pittsburgh, and complete her residency in Erie.

She got her introduction to military life during month-long tours of duty each summer.

“We were sworn in as officers, wore a uniform, went to officers training and learned how to march, salute, and so forth. Each year I was at a different military hospital. I did a rotation in cardiology in Dayton, in pediatrics in San Francisco, survival training in Texas.”

When she went on active duty, she was assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

“A week or two after I came on duty, Kuwait was invaded. I went on standby to be deployed as an orthopedic surgeon. That’s the only thing that made me uncomfortable during my tour. The Air Force uses their family doctors to fill in specialist slots because we have a broad range of training.”

Dr. Angott was never deployed, but her base in Montgomery expanded to receive casualties. The doctors and staff there were also trained in disaster/mass casualty exercises.

Part of Dr. Angott’s patients came from Montgomery’s large retired military population, which provided her with experience in all aspects of family practice.

Her four years of active duty provided her with more than a degree and medical experience.

“I am more appreciative of those who have gone before me and those who have given their lives for our country. I thank every serviceman I meet, and I honor the flag. I know the Constitution and a little bit more about what it means to be a citizen. I certainly didn’t pay enough attention when I took those classes in high school.”

Dr. Angott and her husband Richard have three daughters – Bethany, Leah, and Moriah.

Hermitage, PA

U.S. Army Reserves – Iraq

Many military police security units do their best to keep people out of military installations and operational areas. Andy Hamilton’s 307th Military Police Company did that for a while on a humanitarian in El Salvador.

“We guarded engineers while they built hospitals and schools throughout the country,” he said.

But in Iraq, at Camp Bucca, he spent his time hardening the prison to make it less escapable.

Originally from a place near Barkeyville, PA, Andy joined the army in 2005 at age 18, fresh out of Franklin Area High School.

“I felt like I wanted to serve my country,” he said. “All my life I did heavy equipment operating, construction work, and farming. I decided I wanted a break from the monotony, so I joined the Military Police. And I thought it might set me up for a good career after I got out.”

After training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Andy was assigned to the 307th Military Police Company, 320th MP Battalion in New Kensington, PA.

“We spent a lot of time doing desert training in Fort Irwin, California,” he said. “It was actually a lot of fun.”

Of course, the fun had a purpose, which was to prepare the company for deployment in Iraq. That happened in 2008, right after Andy got married.

Camp Bucca was named after Ronald Bucca, who had been an MP with the 800th Military Police Brigade, and was the New York City fire marshall who died in the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. Camp Bucca was developed into a model detention facility, with prisoners housed in cinder block buildings rather than tents. It even had a U.S. Army hospital to care for the detainees.

The work may have been hard, under the constant awareness that the enemy might fire a rocket into the compound at any time. But Andy’s tour in Iraq wasn’t all bad. His best memories are of the companionship among the American soldiers there.

“All of us there had a strong bond,” Andy said. “We were as close as family.

And, of course, there were the leisure time activities, such as volleyball and bocce.

“All that desert made a good volleyball court,” Andy said.

Hermitage, PA

Pennsylvania National Guard – War on Terror Era

“I thought it would be best to serve my country and do something special,” he said. “My dad was in the military for 25 years. My family has served forty or fifty years total. They’ve all served overseas.”

So Sgt. Brandon Wentling joined the Pennsylvania National Guard on July 23, 2003.

Sgt. Wentling sees a lot of benefits in serving in the Guard.

“You can get your schooling with one hundred percent tuition paid,” he said. “You’re not away from your family and you still get to play army.”

For the First Battalion 107th Artillery stationed at the National Guard Armory in Hermitage, “playing army” is serious business. To be prepared for deployment anywhere in the world, they must train constantly to operate some very large guns.

“I’ve trained on the Paladin, the triple seven, and the one-one-niner,” Sgt. Wentling said.

The Paladin is a 155mm self-propelled howitzer mounted on tracks, like a tank. It can zip along at 35 miles per hour, stop and fire accurately within 30 seconds at targets ten miles away, then take off again. It can fire a maximum of six rounds per minute, sustained three rounds per minute. Operating it requires precise teamwork among its crew of six. The M777 howitzer is a similar 155mm weapon, but towed rather than self-propelled. The smaller, lighter M119 105mm howitzer can be transported by helicopter and even air dropped via parachute.

All of these systems depend on sophisticated electronics for accuracy.

“We train one weekend a month, usually Saturday and Sunday, but sometimes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” Sgt. Wentling said. “In the summer, we have two weeks of annual training. We must get must get certified before going out to shoot live rounds. Everybody has to work together in order to shoot safely.”

Sgt. Wentling was deployed for one year in Taji Iraq, about 20 miles from Bagdad. He also volunteers his time helping people returning from deployment.

“I help them with their paperwork and such,” he said.

When asked about the greatest benefit of serving in the National Guard, Sgt. Wentling answered without hesitation: “Pride and honor.”

When not serving with the Guard, Sgt. Wentling is a heavy equipment operator with Waste Management.

Hermitage, PA

U.S. Navy – Desert Storm era

Dr. David Wood is one of the five sons of Sharon pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Wood. All five are physicians; four of them served in the United States Armed Forces.

When the Vietnam War was in full swing, sons Benjamin and Michael were in Canada – not to avoid the draft, but to attend medical school. While they were there, their draft numbers came up, so when they returned, they went into the army, but as doctors rather than privates.

Benjamin served a year in Long Binh, Vietnam, and completed his two-year obligation at Fort Bragg.

When Michael graduated from medical school in 1970, he went into a program called the Berry Plan, in which he could defer military service until he completed specialty training. He finished orthopedic surgery training at the Mayo Clinic in 1975 and served two years in the army in Heldelberg as an orthopedic surgeon.

John got his medical degree from the University of Virginia. The Air Force paid for two years of his medical school, so he served two years as an ophthalmologist at Wilford Hall in San Antonio.

David graduated from high school in 1977, a year after his father passed away.

“I grew up in a time when people didn’t talk about the military,” David said.

So seeking help from the armed forces to get through medical school wasn’t the first thing that crossed his mind. But it was the second thing.

“We had sort of sticker shock,” he said. When my brother went to medical school in Edmunton, tuition was $500 per year. When Arthur was in Penn State, tuition was $5,000. Six years later my first year’s tuition was $11,000.”

As his brother John had done, David applied for military scholarship programs. He was accepted into the Navy’s program, which paid for four years of medical school. That obligated him to serve four years on active duty, but he was able to defer that until he completed specialist training in ophthalmology.

Then he served four years with the Navy in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“I was of that generation that looked down upon the military,” he said, “but I saw it as a great opportunity to advance my skills as surgeon. I also got a deep respect for why we have a military, why we need a military, and how it works. My experience was very positive. I saw that the military made people better.”

New Castle, PA

Pennsylvania National Guard – Desert Storm era

Why did Chookie LaCamera sign up for the U.S. Army in 1983, when he was a junior in high school?

“I wanted to jump out of airplanes,” he said. “I was nuts. I wanted to be an infantry soldier.”

He entered the army after he graduated from high school in 1984. After Basic Training, Advanced Individual Training, and Jump School, he was assigned to the 2/504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He spent the rest of his four-year enlistment there, with various training deployments.

One deployment was far more than a training exercise.

“I went to the Sinai Desert on a peacekeeping mission,” he said. “That was part of the 1979 Camp David Accords. They drew a demilitarized zone in the Sinai Desert to separate Israeli and Egyptian forces. It was a United Nations mission with contingents from 13 countries.”

When his commitment was up, Chookie got out of the army and joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in the usual one weekend a month, two weeks of summer training mode. He also worked as a civilian Federal Technician for the National guard, first as an administrative clerk; then he moved into logistics, and finally into communications in Pittsburgh.

When his wife developed brain cancer, he had to get a job closer to home to take care of her and their three kids. He found a good job at Sawhill. But when his wife started getting better, he wanted to go into the National Guard full time. In 2005, he went back on active duty as retention manager with the 107th Field Artillery in New Castle. That same year he moved into logistics. In 2008, he became the battalion’s S-1 NCO.

In civilian terminology, that’s human resources manager.

“We take care of the soldier in every single aspect,” he said, “whether it’s family care plans, life insurance, or promotions. We go the extra mile to take care of these guys because they are soldiers just like us.”

Sgt. LaCamera is still in the National Guard quite simply because he loves the military, and knows he is performing an important function.

“When I reached 20 years, the thought crossed my mind that I could retire. But I feel so good about being in the military that I stayed.”

He sums up his ongoing 28-year military career like this: “I have been blessed, I really have.”

Hermitage, PA

U.S. Air Force Reserves – Desert Storm Era

The Air Force Reserves hold competitions every year during each unit’s two-week summer active duty training. One year the Security Police Squadron at the Air Reserve Station in Vienna, Ohio, was rated as the very best in the whole Air Force Reserve system. The commander of that unit was Major John Lechner.
That wasn’t the only unit to excel under John’s leadership. When promoted to Lt. Col., he became commander of Vienna’s Aerial Port Squadron, which handles air cargo. Before John took command, it had won the honor of being the best Aerial Port Squadron in the Air Force Reserves. With John as its leader, it won the competition a second time.

Being the very best has its consequences. On 2 August 1990, the United States responded to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait with Operation Desert Shield.

“I figured we’d be among the first units to be activated,” John said. “We were the second Aerial Port Squadron called up. The first one was from President Bush’s home state of Texas.”

John’s squadron was activated the week after Thanksgiving, 1990. At that time, he was a Pennsylvania State Police officer.

“I had to go in to work and quickly wrap up my whole life,” he said.

They were sent to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they were integrated into Aerial Port Squadron. The combined unit continued to demonstrate excellence in its mission to ship men and materiel to the combat zone.

“Everything has to be weighed, then carefully loaded so each plane would be balanced,” John said.

That’s quite a task, especially given the variety and volume of the shipments. They shipped troops, Apache helicopters, Patriot Missiles, weapons, and other materiel. On Christmas Day, 1990, they unloaded and loaded 55 planes within 24 hours.

When John returned in 1991, he continued serving in both the Air Force Reserves and the Pennsylvania State Police. When he retired from the reserves in October, 1997, he could look back on a uniquely varied career: ROTC at Gannon College, commissioned in the army Military Police Corps, two years on active duty, four years in the inactive army reserves, several active army reserve assignments, and finally twelve years in the Air Force Reserves. His State Police career was equally rewarding, with ultimate promotion to the rank of Lieutenant.

“A lot of what I learned in the military about leadership and command served me very well in the state police,” he said.