Millennium Magazine_8th Ed

151 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY Charles Air Force Base before spending two years at the SpangdahlemAir Base in Germany. He joined the 174 th New York Air National Guard, who sent him to the Air Force Officer Candidate School, commissioning himas a second lieutenant in 1962. Mr. Besecker was reassigned to navigation training at the James Connelly Air Force Base and to the 139 th Tactical Airlift Squadron in New York. During the 1960s and 1970s, he flew missions in over 28 countries, including trips to Vietnam, Brazil, Iran, Spain and the Virgin Islands, as well as in all 50 U.S. states. In 1974, Mr. Besecker attended the Air Force Arctic Survival School in Alaska, where he was upgraded to an Arctic ice cap navigator instructor. Under an NSF mission, he traveled to a remote area of the Greenland ice cap with much success. A graduate of the Air Force University Squadron Officer School andAir Command and StaffCollege, Mr. Besecker took courses in political andmilitary sciences and Air Force counterinsurgency. Retiring from the military in 1997 as lieutenant colonel, he accrued 42 years of service with such accolades as the Airman’s Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Readiness Medal with Five Oak Leaf Clusters, Presidential Medal Citation, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and New York State Medal of Merit, among others. Alongside his military ventures, Mr. Besecker was employed by General Electric for 33 years until retiring in 1993. His last position was in integration engineering for the Heavy Military Department as the planner and scheduler for the testing of sonar systems for Navy ships. Post- retirement, he lent his expertise to environmental conservation, working with inner-city youth to go on fishing trips. He is a graduate of Cornell University’s Cooperative Extensive Sports, Fishing and Aquatic Resource Education Program. U pon joining the U.S. Army Reserve at 17 years old, Raymond F. Besecker commenced his career with the U.S. Air Force in Texas after his high school graduation. Graduating from the Air Traffic Control Radar Maintenance School, he was stationed at Keesler Air Force Base and Lake RAYMOND. F. BESECKER PLANNER AND SCHEDULER OF SONAR SYSTEMS General Electric East Syracuse, NY