Friday, May 24, 2002

Retired pilot runs phone patch service for military

By LUANN MASON

Two tall, metal towers grace the skyline just south of the city limits, providing 81-year-old Raymond Scheffler with a gateway to the world.

As a ham radio operator, Scheffler gives military servicemen overseas the chance to talk to loved ones and others here in the United States. Scheffler has run phone patches through a short wave radio from his home for 40 years. He and his wife, Jean, belong to an exclusive group of 25 radio operators worldwide who are assigned to the U.S. Air Force Military Affiliated Radio System phone patch net. In fact, Jean is currently the only female Air Force M.A.R.S. phone patch operator in the world, Scheffler shares proudly as he glances toward his wife of 58 years.

By manning their home radio system, the Schefflers serve as a backup for military communications.

It’s a privilege to be assigned to this Air Force net, Scheffler shares adding he and his wife log at least 2,000 hours a year while arranging conversations home for servicemen. “We’ve run about a half million patches between the both of us.” One-third of the patches are official traffic where servicemen cannot get through on the normal military channels.

As Scheffler points to three-ring binders full of papers, he explains that he and Jean record each contact they make. In fact, he recalls they ran more than 20,000 patches during the Viet Nam Conflict that included mostly ground messages between troops of servicemen during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

The couple has also run phone patches over the years for the group called the Hurricane Hunters. “We run patches from them to TV personnel at CNN,” Scheffler says.

“We’ve had some interesting patches,” Jean shares. One was even from Viet Nam to the delivery room. The father got to hear the first cry of his newborn. Others, Scheffler remembers, include birthday greetings, marriage proposals, dear johns, and discussions that ultimately ended with the disclosure of infidelity.

In addition, Scheffler has helped people get the proper clearance to go by air from one country to another. He’s even helped order repair parts for aircraft and other military vehicles. “We handle mostly morale-type issues. However, we do handle emergencies on occasion when equipment is needed.”

Ham radio operation gives Scheffler something to do instead of just sitting in front of the television, he says. “Plus, I’m useful to somebody.”

After all, there seems to be no better way for a retired military Lieutenant Colonel to stay informed about current military operations and help servicemen. Scheffler served a combined 38 years in the Army and Air Force in the capacities of enlisted, active duty and reserve duty service.

Modest about his rank, Scheffler started his military career as a private at age 22 when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, now known as the Air Force. The year was 1942, and he admits he enlisted to avoid the draft. “I didn’t want to be a part of ground combat,” the Shelbyville native confesses. “You could come back crippled. Limbs could be shot off,” he says, and besides, he was interested in flying.

“I wanted to be a fighter pilot, not a bomber,” Scheffler remembers, “But, when you’re in the Army, you don’t always get what you want. You take lots of tests and then you’re placed in a position.” Scheffler reveals he passed tests for training in the areas of bombardier, navigator and pilot. You had to also have at least two years of college or pass the equivalent exam. He passed the exam.

While suited up as a bombardier pilot, Scheffler flew 51 successful missions during World War II. He explains that a mission is when aircraft go out and drop bombs in combat to inflict damage on the enemy. “Three primary missions were to Borneo to knock down the Japanese’s main supply of oil and several were in support of ground troops in the Philippines,” he reminisces.

The 1939 Shelbyville High School graduate, admits “darn foolishness” left his bomber shot up once. Serving as an aircraft commander and an overseas combat instructor pilot throughout the war, Scheffler was a member of the 370 Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group of the 13th Air Force. He recalls flying was done in a six-ship squadron formation. He explains further that they flew six planes per squadron in which four squadrons made a group. “Before the mission, we would fly in formation. We would fly to the target, bomb the target, then break up the formation and fly to home base on our own.” Staying in formation, he says, provided more concentrated firepower.

With extensive flight training completed in the United States, Scheffler packed his belongings and was sent overseas to the South Pacific on Aug. 29, 1944. From then on, he was in charge of a B24 bomber that included a 10-member crew. He orchestrated missions until returning to the United States on July 29, 1945.

World War II ended in August 1945, transferring Scheffler from active duty to service in the Army Air Force Reserves where he continued to fly various types of aircraft. He was reassigned to Santa Ana, Calif., and then moved to Fort Wayne where he continued service in the reserves.

Scheffler returned to Shelbyville in 1953 when his father became ill. “We’ve been here in this house since,” he says, adding he pitched in with his brother, Frank Scheffler, to continue their dad’s farming operation.

Full scale farming of livestock and crops was scaled down to just grain farming in the ’60s, Scheffler remembers, after the Scheffler children were grown. He retired from farming just five years ago and now rents his 320 acres of farmland to others.

In addition to monitoring the airwaves and helping military servicemen with communications, Scheffler and his wife love to travel. “He has a pickup truck out there that’s been to the Artic Circle,” Jean smiles. At one point, the Schefflers left Shelbyville and drove 11,000 miles to Alaska. “We’ve been to all 50 states and to Mexico,” shares Scheffler. The seasoned travelers have also visited their son in Germany three times.

The familiar phrase “like father, like son” holds true for the Schefflers since son, Raymond, 53, retired from the Air Force after 27 years of service. While in the service, he worked as a radio technician and a radio operator.

Each day is an adventure for Scheffler as voices boom over the radio and determine which parts of the world his voice will touch. Plaques, autographed photos, and scrapbooks full of thank you notes line the walls and bookshelves in his radio room revealing the many, many lives the Schefflers have touched by flipping a switch or two on a ham radio.

LuAnn Mason is a Title I teaching assistant at Loper Elementary School where she works with fourth-grade students on reading and math. She has been a Girl Scout leader in Shelby County for 12 years and had written numerous scouting articles for The Shelbyville News in her position as public relations coordinator for Girl Scouts. She formerly worked at The Muncie Star in numerous reporting positions and has lived in Shelbyville for 17 years.