Portrait of a Professional: March 2010

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MOFFETT FEDERAL AIRFIELD, Calif. --  Portrait of a Professional is a monthly profile of an outstanding Staff Sgt. and below. Staff Sgt. Douglas Quayle, 130th Rescue Squadron flight engineer, is featured as this month's Portrait of a Professional.

What motivated you to enlist in the AF?
I finished my time with the Army, didn't want to reenlist with the Army, however I wanted to continue serving. So I was active duty Army, then Army National Guard when I had just gotten back from a year long deployment when I interviewed for a job in the Air Force rescue community that I couldn't turn down. I say it's a job I couldn't refuse because this is a unique mission. There's not many opportunities you can have in the National Guard to serve in an honorable mission like ours here at the 129th. I'm proud to be able to tell my son what I do.

How has being an Airman changed your outlook on life?
It's made a big difference. Being in the military has taught me the importance of duty and responsibility. I've been in situations where my being less than responsible, or lazy, in the civilian world wouldn't be so critical. However in the military I have been n several instances while deployed down range that my inaction could have ended the lives of others. I've witnessed inaction of others, and it's taught me the value of the discipline the military has imparted.

What's the most important lesson you've learned in the military?
I had an incident when I was in the desert when another individual made a critical mistake that could have cost the lives of an air crew. My discipline and my integrity would not allow me to let that mistake go unchecked. It was a very difficult situation and the individual ended up losing his career out of it but because of that, we were sure that the mistake was not going to get someone killed. As far as a lesson learned, it's not about keeping people happy and it's not about taking the easy path. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made and the bottom line is you have to support the mission and the personnel that you're with.

If you could deploy anywhere in the world, where would you go?
If I could deploy anywhere, I would deploy where ever the fight is today. My little brother is a green beret with the Army and where he and anyone like him is out fighting the fight, where ever they need me to be is where I would want to go. Because of the mission that we have, if they need us we need to be where they can get us. We need to be their 911 call.

If you could choose any AF job, which would it be? Why?
I started as an infantryman, mortar transport operator, avionic flight system repair, avionic radar navigation flight test technician all in the Army, and now, being a flight engineer for the C-130P I think I have the greatest enlisted job there is in the Air Force.

Where did you grow up?
I'm from the East Bay. I grew up in Pleasanton, Calif.

What is your job in the civilian world?
I'm a self employed electrical contractor.

What would people be surprised to know about you?
I'm a pretty good cook, and I play guitar.

What are your hobbies?
I'm really into sport aviation, including aerobatic flying. I fly light tail draggers and I'm working on a rotary wing addition, a helicopter add-on rating. I fly out of Livermore because my father is an instructor there. I'm also hoping to pick up my light sport instructor rating this year to be an instructor as well.