About Rick Rottman

My name is Rick Rottman and this is my personal blog. It’s where I write about whatever I feel like writing about when I feel like writing about it. It’s neither objective or unbiased.

I am originally from Southern California, but Western Maryland is my home now. What’s Western Maryland? Anything on the left-hand side of Baltimore. In my case, I live in Hagerstown, Maryland.

My Air Force days

I joined the United States Air Force in 1984. I couldn’t find meaningful employment after graduating from high school. I was attending community college, but I could not afford to go to a four-year college.

I decided to join the United States Air Force. In the Air Force’s infinite wisdom, they made me an electronic countermeasures (ECM) technician, even though I had no knowledge or interest in electronics. After a year of tech school in Biloxi, Mississippi, I was transferred to Clark Air Base in the Phillippines. I worked the flight line on F-4E and F-4G Wild Weasels.

Here I am sitting in an F-4, circa 1986.

After the Philippines, I was stationed at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. I absolutely loved Guam. It’s probably my most favorite place in the world.

Here I am with my fellow electronic countermeasures (ECM) technicians standing on the tarmac with a B-52. I’m on the top-right.

When I was stationed in the Philippines, I got certified in SCUBA diving and would go diving as much as I could. Because of the distance from Clark Air Base to the ocean, that meant three-day weekends. On Guam, I could go diving each and every day. I loved it.

I also loved working on the B-52. It was a much better aircraft to work on than the F-4.

My back to being a civilian days

After Guam, I was stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York. It was then I began not enjoying the Air Force too much. Being stationed in the states was a lot different than I was used to being overseas. Plus, I was getting older and I think I was just outgrowing the Air Force.

At the same time, the military was shrinking. The Cold War was over and Air Force bases were closing down. Griffiss was no different. I got out in 1994.

Although I tried to find a job in Southern California, it was hard to do from Central New York. This was before the Internet took off. I ended up getting a job offer in Maryland. Walmart was opening a large regional photofinishing lab in Williamsport, Maryland. They wanted to hire ex-military people with an electronics background to work on and maintain the processing equipment. I accepted the job offer. I figured I could work in Maryland for a few years until I decided what I wanted to do when I grew up. I then met my wife and I’ve lived in Maryland ever since.

I’ve now lived in Maryland longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere else. Although I’ve had a series of jobs after working at the photo lab, I’ve always lived here in Maryland. We bought a house here, so I think that officially makes me a Marylander.

Social Media

You can follow me on my personal Twitter account. I promise I’ll follow you back. Maybe.

Want to see the dumb things I take pictures of? Sounds like you might want to follow me on Instagram.

You can also send me a friend request on Facebook where we can be fake friends with each other. If we are friends in real life, we can also be fake friends on Facebook.