BY ANNA GUSTAFSON
When Lt. Col. Richard Gulley left his job at St. John’s University in April, it was, he said, to take the job of a lifetime.
It was not the easiest decision to make, leaving his post working with the ROTC program at St. John’s, as well as a pregnant wife and his 5-year-old son. Still, when the U.S. Army offered him the opportunity to serve as the aviation officer for the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in Afghanistan, Gulley said he knew there was no way he could turn it down.
“This is truly one of the highlights of my career,” Gulley said last week from Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base, one of the country’s largest bases that is routinely attacked by insurgents and situated in Parwan Province. “These are the most elite forces that the military has and working for them is utterly humbling.”
Gulley, an Oregon native who lives in Brooklyn, flies for JetBlue when he is not on active duty and recently oversaw the expansion of the ROTC program at St. John’s, the only program of its kind in Queens and one of two in the city.
“These kids are the next Greatest Generation,” Gulley said.
In Afghanistan, he works with about 4,200 military personnel and oversees logistics for aviation activities throughout the country, including making sure pilots have what they need for battle and investigating air crashes.
“I’ve gotten to go to all the corners of Afghanistan and met a lot of Afghans,” Gulley said. “One of the highlights of my time here was when I was able to spend a few days traveling with a special forces team, who would meet with the village elders, discuss issues and listen to their problems to facilitate a relationship of trust.”
After originally joining the Army to help pay for college, Gulley has in his more than two decades in the military gone on to work around the world. He spent time working in 2006 for NATO in Kosovo; was stationed in Germany from 2006-09, during which time he served a one-year tour in the Middle East; and was the Joint Task Force commander for former President George W. Bush’s trip to Rwanda in 2008.
While he knows the Afghan tour is one of the best things he has done in his career, Gulley said he, of course, misses his wife and son and he tries to speak with them every day. He is expected to fly back to the United States Oct. 15 — five days before his wife is supposed to give birth.
“When I get back, my plan is to take some time off, make it up to my wife for being gone for 90 percent of her pregnancy,” Gulley said. “Then I plan on going back to flying for JetBlue.”
Despite the inevitable stress that comes from being away from his family and combat, Gulley said there are “a couple of nice things to being deployed.”
“There’s nothing to spend money on, and there’s always good food,” he said. “On Fridays, we have lobster and steak. And working out is encouraged — it’s a way to relieve the stress of combat.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
