Pat Hanavan graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958. He received the Marine Corps Association Prize for "Peleliu Pushover," judged to be the best research paper of 1958 on operational or doctrinal aspects of ground, air, or amphibious operations.He and Alicia, his wife of 54 years, raised four children (Patrick III, Cynthia, Michael, and Theresa). During his 20 years in the United States Air Force, he was a pilot, research and development engineer, maintenance officer, and logistics officer. His USAF assignments included the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the 6570th Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Aeronautical Systems Division, the 535th Tactical Airlift… Squadron and the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing in Vietnam, the Space and Missile Systems Organization, Headquarters Air Force Systems Command, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, and San Antonio Air Logistics Center.He worked on manned extra-vehicular operations for Gemini and Manned Orbiting Laboratory space programs from 1964-1965 and was the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers Young Engineer of 1966.Pat flew the C-7A Caribou as an Instructor Pilot in the 535th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Vung Tau, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), during the Tet Offensive of 1968 and was then assigned as the Quality Control Officer and chief test pilot for the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing at Cam Ranh Bay, RVN. During his Vietnam tour, he flew over 600 hours in the Caribou. Colonel Hanavan retired from the USAF in 1978 and transitioned to industry and academia.Dr. Hanavan received a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles while on active duty in the Air Force. From 1979-1990 he was a member of the faculty at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He worked at the Software Engineering Institute from 1990-1995. His consulting work took him to France, Australia, China, England, Canada, Italy, Holland, Korea, and Singapore.He is a registered Professional Engineer in Software Engineering (TX) and in Aeronautical Engineering (OH), a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers since 1965, a Life Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.Pat has been a member of the C-7A Caribou Association since 2003 and serves as its President and newsletter editor.
M.T. Smith is a freelance writer and children's theatre director dedicated to preserving the world's most vital resource--Imagination! At the tender age of five he first became aware of its depletion and immediately put himself on a strict but hefty diet of cartoons, video games, music and fantasy movies. After twenty-two years on this regiment, his levels of imagination had risen through the roof, leading him to study Musical Theatre at the University of Arizona, where he also received a B.A in Linguistics; then to the Actors Studio Drama School in New York City, where he received his MFA in Acting. He is currently teaching theater at Studio Three Triple Threat Academy in Gilbert, AZ, and… performs as an improvisational comedy actor at the National Comedy Theater in Mesa, Arizona.At the heart of it Mr. Smith is a lover of language: fascinated with how even the simplest of words can paint a thousand pictures--spur a thousand of interpretations in the minds of readers. The only challenge is thinking beyond forth wall to the fifth, sixth and seventh; and his books, plays, and stories all pose such a challenge. He maintains a Facebook page, Twitter, Blog and several websites dedicated to bringing awareness of Imagination Depletion on the global stage and offering ways to prevent it.