Retiree Spotlight: RAO volunteer was stationed here in 1948 Published Sept. 10, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Erica Crossen 375th Air Mobility Wing, Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill -- Walter Monahan, a retired Air Force technical sergeant, started out in the U.S. Navy, and then joined the Air Force. He served during World War II, and as an Airman, served during the Korean War and Vietnam. He first specialized in communications, and later, as an air traffic control man. "I came to Scott to go to radio school for communications on April 9, 1948, when it was called Scott Field." "We Airmen used to get paid once a month, and on payday the buses would give us a ride to St. Louis." "I was in the Air Force where we wore the brown shoes, Ike jackets, and all that." He rattles off Navy terms that are still used today, "Bulkhead, deck, overhead, doors are called hatches, and you never forget that stuff." He shares his animated stories from time to time, and coworkers enjoy listening to his experiences. As a former communications specialist, he said he doesn't understand the tendency to live on smartphones the way the younger generation seems to do to communicate nowadays. He prefers to talk face to face. "My best assignment was teaching the students coming through the air traffic control school later in my career. They seemed to like old 'Wally', and I always used to tell my students, 'if you don't understand the material, stop and ask, because there's no point in going any farther if you don't get it.'" Stories he has commonly told are about the times he spent teaching. "I remember I was teaching the day Kennedy was shot. I was lecturing to the class when we found out." He retired July 1, 1967 from the Air Force. He now volunteers his time at the Retiree Appreciation Office, the office of which works under the constant motto of 'Still Serving'.