Editor’s note: In light of the Bradford Food Pantry now being known as the Colonel Arley W. McRae Bradford Food Pantry, the Telegraph-Times-Monitor presents this Veterans Day story in which McRae talked of his love of flying and his career in the Air Force. The story was originally published on Nov. 8, 2012.
BY MARY W. BRIDGMAN
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
Folks around Starke know Arley McRae for his untiring work as director of the Bradford Food Pantry. He is also executive director of Habitat for Humanity and a trustee for Santa Fe College.
Those roles — and many other community service activities — are what occupy McRae’s time now, but Veterans Day calls to mind a different time when McRae’s whole life was the United States Air Force.
Although McRae is a fifth-generation Bradford Countian, he was actually born in Lakeland, where his parents were employed in the citrus industry during the Depression. They moved back to Bradford County when he was 6. He attended the three-room Rising School, one of many small, public schools scattered throughout rural areas.
McRae’s interest in flying began early, nurtured by photos of World War II airplanes that appeared on the back of boxes of Kellogg’s Pep cereal.
“I cut those out, had a big collection of them during the war,” he said.
In 1942, one of those warplanes literally fell from the sky and crashed right across the road from his home while his mother and a friend were sitting on the front porch shelling peas. The plane caught fire and caused the live ammunition it was carrying to go off.
Although one of the crew — its tail gunner — perished in the fire, that didn’t quell McRae’s interest in flying.
“It made me more determined than before,” he said. “I didn’t think about crashing.”
With a father who had played semi-pro baseball, McRae was interested in sports. He enrolled in Bradford High School in 1948, playing football and baseball and running track.
“I was more interested in the social and political aspects of school,” McRae said. “I didn’t have the best grades, and that was my own fault. I was always either president or vice president of my class. I was president of the student body my senior year.”
McRae set his sights on the University of Florida as a means to get his wings — through the ROTC program. Encouraged by his high school principal, Mr. Partin, he obtained a football scholarship and played for the Gators as a defensive back. An injury sidelined him after the first year, but his scholarship remained in effect, and he juggled an interesting assortment of jobs, including square-dance caller and sports referee, to meet his college expenses.
He graduated with a degree in physical education in 1956.
“Back then, physical education emphasized sports and coaching,” McRae said. “Now, it’s more about human performance and taking care of your body.”
After a brief stint as a high school coach, McRae began his Air Force career. He earned his wings in 1958, graduating number three in his class of 50.
At that time, there wasn’t a war going on, so pilots were not in high demand. McRae was able to continue his training. During an air-gunnery exercise, his plane was hit by another, which took off his left wing. Thrown from the plane, McRae was still in his seat. He pulled his parachute prematurely, which could have caused the chute to become entangled in the seat and cost him his life. Instead, the seat caught on his boot, and though the landing was rough, he survived.
“With the health and physical education training I had, I was able to cut my parachute and bandage myself,” McRae said.
The crash occurred at 10:10 a.m. By mid-afternoon, the rescue team had not found McRae or the other pilot. One of their classmates told the crew they were looking in the wrong area and went and found them. He then recruited a helicopter pilot and a doctor to make the rescue despite unfavorable weather conditions.
“I’m very thankful they got us,” McRae said.
The crash did not quench his passion for flying. After recovering, he spent several years flying in Europe during the Cold War, on full nuclear alert. By 1964, McRae had achieved the rank of captain.
U.S. involvement in Vietnam was escalating. McRae became involved in determining where its planes should be located. Later, he was assigned to Ubon, Thailand, and flew 133 combat missions — more than the 100 normally required of pilots. He was awarded the Silver Star, the third highest military decoration for valor that can be given to any person serving in any capacity within the U.S. armed forces.
After his tour of duty in Vietnam, McRae was asked by the Air Force to upgrade the technology and training in its planes destined for Southeast Asia. He pioneered the Smart-Bomb program, which dramatically reduced casualties, both civilian and military. The result was much better accuracy, with fewer airplanes, pilots and bombs — and casualties — required for the same job.
Later, McRae was called on to implement the same technology in nuclear bombs. That assignment propelled him into the highest circles of the Air Force, resulting in his assignment as commander of Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska for three years and then Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for four years.
While at Luke, McRae rebuilt the facility, removing more than 100 World War II trailers and building permanent structures for the workers on the flight line. Luke went from having 58 percent of its planes in commission to 95 percent and became the number-one military base in the country.
When asked about the sacrifices his military service required of him, McRae said he put his personal life on hold for the military, deferring marriage and a family until he was in his mid-40s.
McRae retired from the Air Force as a full colonel and eventually moved back to Bradford County. He considered pursuing an advanced degree at UF, but ultimately decided to devote his time to the community service activities for which he is well-known around Starke.
Reflecting on how Americans should honor military veterans, McRae said they should give them respect.
“There is a tendency to ignore them unless you have been part of what they have done,” McRae said. “They are willing to serve in a capacity of unselfish giving. In order to serve, you can’t worry about yourself — only about your country.
“We must be willing to keep our country strong and keep it manned and equipped so we can continue to have the strength to be the country we need to be — the leader of the world. The reason we are strong is because we have a strong military — the protector of the world, which is the role we’ve assumed. We need to respect that role and let our decisions and policies be guided by that respect.”
When asked about the current state of the military, McRae said, “Our military is fine, but I am concerned that America is evolving more into a nation of takers. We need to become givers instead of takers. Like John F. Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.’”
