Douglas K. McCartney

MEDALS-RIBBONS: Bronze Star, Weapons Control, Air Crew, Meritorious Service (2), Air Medal (4), Air Force Commendation (2), Combat Readiness, Air Force Longevity Service (5), National Defense Service, Vietnam Service (6), Air Force Outstanding Unit (3), Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Palm, Republic of Vietnam Campaign

Doug received commendations as a Mission Crew Commander on "Joint Chiefs of Staff directed deployments", accruing three Air Medals. Stateside and in Thailand and Vietnam, he was honored for his heroic and meritorious service and achievement.

Our Doug lived life to the fullest from the moment he was born in 1938 till the day he died at age 82 in 2021. His life over that entire time ran a circuitous route that took him on many personal and familial adventures. For instance, Doug was adopted by his birth mom’s aunt who in turn was the grand-daughter of an infamous silver mine owner, Horace Tabor. Yeah, we always had trouble tracking his family history. Raised as basically an only child, he grew up as an avid reader with a fascination for the military. He wound up studying journalism and engineering in college.

Doug graduated from University of Nebraska in 1963 with the Vietnam war and draft ramping up. He decided to beat the draft by enlisting in the US Air Force, attending Officer training at Lackland AFB, TX, commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. Climbing the ranks, he attended Radar Weapons Control training in Mississippi, survival training at McChord, WA and in 1967 deployed to Clark AFB, Philippines for his first overseas duty. In 1968-71 he deployed to Udorn, Thailand on the border of the Vietnam DMZ where he received a Bronze Star for meritorious service in 1971. From Thailand, he traveled all over the world commanding AWACs radar surveillance/weapons control with 30 missions including Iceland, Germany and Saudi Arabia. With each military move he brought along his beloved sports cars (wrecking every one). He also used every opportunity to travel where not only would he enjoy culture, but take advantage of the shopping, expanding his sound system, cameras, video recorder collection, and acquiring magnificent furniture and china sets. Doug also used his journalism background to begin his avocation of documenting all his adventures through film. While doing all this, he managed to accrue an Air Medal, several oak leaf Meritorious Service Medals as well as his Bronze Star in service of the country he loved.

In 1980 he was stationed at Norton Air Force Base where he lived with his sister Marge Rice, in Rialto and joined the Riverside Sitzmaker Ski Club. He retired from the Air Force in 1984 as E3 AWAC Flight Commander at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and was hired by Hughes Aircraft in Fullerton, CA then sent immediately to Japan for 6 months to work on the radar control system for their new airport outside of Tokyo. In the meantime, he bought a condo in Hacienda Heights, CA to settle into civilian life and in 1986, met another Sitzmaker, Mary Wecker on a Redondo Beach bike ride. Mary had a 12 year old daughter Jennifer, owned a salon and lived in Hemet. So began an 8 year relationship which involved 78 miles commuter dating and Doug took on Mary’s daughter as his own. Doug and Mary skied, enjoyed water sports and became avid mountain bikers throughout their dating life! In 1993, Hughes transferred Doug to Washington,DC and Doug convinced Mary that the most expedient path for the both of them to take was to get married and move to the east coast together. They sold off their California properties as well as Mary’s business and after a final California beach party, they set off for new adventures and found a beautiful home in Annapolis, Maryland which was within walking distance of a marina that gave them access to the Chesapeake Bay.

They soon learned they had an active boating community and met, Rob and Cecille Schlenker, who introduced them to sailing on ‘Gloriana’, a 27’ Catalina. Rob & Cecille moved to Colorado and sold “Gloriana” to Doug & Mary which they kept close to home and began a tradition of raft ups/parties with Chesapeake Bay boating neighbors. Doug and Mary kept in contact with the Sitzmakers Ski Club and began joining ski tours/trips to Europe. Of course, Doug continued his avocation of being the penultimate videographer, documenting in film every adventure and event…perhaps to the point of being a bit annoying. Of course, we all love viewing the film memories he left for us…all 1,000,000 hours of video and pictures!

Doug inherited a family that he had always longed for. Mary’s daughter Jennifer had two daughters, Brooke and Meagan, and all visited them in Annapolis with great times together. Doug and Mary added wind surfing and road biking to their adventure repertoire, while also traveling the east to experience the four seasons. Doug ended his second career with Raytheon working on an EOS(Earth Orbiting System)Nasa Satellite Communications project and also Lan Sat 7 projects at Langley AFB and Goddard Space Center retiring in 2004.

In the meantime, Jennifer, her husband Paul, and the two grandkids, had moved to the Cheyenne, Wy area for Paul’s college/work. To be closer to the family and to follow another dream, Doug and Mary decided to move to Colorado in 2005, finding a beautiful home in Ft. Collins with plenty of space for family and house guests. They were able to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, pursue all the world class skiing opportunities throughout the Rockies (with the Cheyenne Ski Club), discover cross country skiing, and though away from the oceans, continue to kayak and windsurf. They also used their mountain biking interest to become a valuable asset for a local Overland Mountain Bike Club, becoming trail ambassadors, trail builders, event organizers, and party hosts. And of course, they got to share wonderful adventures with Marys’ daughter and two grand-daughters. Jennifer had begun working at an animal shelter and convinced Doug and Mary to adopt three kittens, Baby, Cha-Cha, and Jazzy, who became the second loves of their lives. In 2011, on a bike ride in Windsor, CO, Doug and Mary fell in love with a house for sale on the peninsula of a beautiful lake adjacent to the Cache Le Poudre River. The parties continued as well as the visits from their friends on both coasts.

At the height of adventuring including skiing in Europe and around the West, and mountain biking the hardest trails in Moab, Fruita, and Grand Junction, Doug got an infection in his lungs that developed into interstitial lung disease. Still, undeterred, Doug got the best oxygen supplement systems he could carry in his backpack and continued skiing, biking, hiking, and kayaking for two years.

They decided to head out for one more bucket list adventure…a river boat tour up the Danube through Romania and the Czech Republic. He was thrilled to spend his 80th birthday in countries that were now democracies out from under the communist influence of Russia. He wined and dined, road biked, and hiked daily, his oxygen strapped to his back!

Finally, Doug and Mary had to decide that the high altitude living in Colorado was impacting his overall quality of life, and time to head for lower altitudes. After an extensive search, they relocated to Oceanside, California in 2018. The new home unexpectedly turned into a major “fixer upper”, but the cats loved it, the location was great, and friends and family continued to love to visit.

Doug enjoyed his three years living in Oceanside. He was indeed able to continue doing the activities he loved: Cycling in the open spaces near his home and down to and along the beaches; kayaking and sailing in the bays and harbors; and attending and hosting TGIFs, holiday parties with neighbors, friends, family, and joining one last bike/activity club, the Get Off Your Rockers. Most exciting, he was able to spend some time with his new great-grandson Oliver, making a trip back to the Cheyenne/Denver area in 2019 to visit Oliver, grand-daughters, family, and friends.

Doug never lost his zest for living, completing a 20 mile bike ride with friends a week before he entered the hospital. He gave joy to so many people and memories of all he did will last all of our lifetimes.

Doug’s Military Timeline:

1956 Graduated from Norfolk High School, Norfolk, Nebraska

1962 Graduated University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NB

1963 Officer Training Lackland AFB, TX commissioned Second Leutenant

1964 Combat Training/Survival School McChord AFB, Washington

1965 Radar Weapons Control School, Keesker AFB, Mississippi

1966-67 Clark AFB, Philippines first overseas deployment

1970-71 Received a Bronze Star for Meritorious Service

1970 Earned private pilots license in Renton, Washington while on leave

1972 Assigned to Norton AFB, California attended public communication school

1973 Assigned to Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Nevada with E3 AWACs deployed to Saudia Arabia

1975-78 1st Meritorious Service Award

1978-79 2nd Meritorious Service Award 1st Gold leaf cluster

1980 Assigned to Tinker AFB, OK

1980 3rd Meritorious Service Award 2nd Gold Leaf Cluster

1981-82 Air Medal Award 3rd Oak Leaf Cluster for Lead Mission Crew Commander & Flight

Commander

1982-84 Commanded 30 missions to Iceland, Germany, Saudia Arabia for AWAC Naval Air Force

Pacific Fleet

1984 Retired as E3 AWAC Major Flight Mission Crew Commander Tinker AFB, OK

1984 Hired on Hughes Aircraft Command Control Systems Division in Fullerton, CA

1994 Transferred to Hughes which later sold to Raytheon, Landover, MD/Washington DC

Beltway lived in Annapolis, MD

1994-2004 Worked on NASA Earth Observing System- EOS & LAN SAT 7 program at Langley &

Goddard Space Center until retirement

2005 Retired to Ft Collins, CO