Amateur Radio - Simplex Preservation Society Member Page

                        
                            I was first licensed in September 1982 and received my Extra Class license in January 1983. My original Extra call was ND5X. After 20 years I changed it to WF5TX. Why? ND5X signifies nothing other than "Extra Class", and I got tired of that idea. WF5TX signifies my home town. 
                          
                            I still try to maintain my 20 WPM code speed, even though I haven't worked CW in years. I keep the Koch Trainer running on my computer! Back in the 1970's I took correspondence courses in electronics from CIE - Cleveland Institute of Electronics and CREI - Capitol Radio Engineering Institute. I think I might even remember a little of it!
                          
                            I used to fly for fun. I used the old GI Bill (U.S. Army 1971-77, Military Police Corps) to rack up a few ratings (Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine, Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor) but I never pursued it "commercially". For some silly reason I thought I already had a good job - law enforcement. Wow, was that a mistake! I gave it 20 years and got out in 1998. Anyway, I ran out of GI Bill money so I had to reach into my own pocket to finish college.
                          
                            Since leaving law enforcement I've been a private investigator, correctional officer (state), detention officer (county), inmate grievance coordinator (state), production supervisor (jet engine parts), school bus driver, medical transportation driver, and a substitute teacher. 
                          
                            I did the county jail thing just so I could say I've worked in the criminal justice system at the city, county, state and federal levels… that's if you want to count Military Police as a "federal" gig. Well, I guess it technically is. Now I can say I "hit for the cycle" to borrow a baseball term.
                          
                            I don't fly or skydive these days. One day I woke up and decided I was bored with the sky. Other interests have been motorcycles, martial arts and something called Amateur Radio. I still have dreams of being in freefall, however.
                          
                            Now I'm once again a Correctional Officer at the Allred Unit in Wichita Falls. This is a maximum security prison housing 3600+ felons of all types. Imagine the most horrible crimes that you can, and the perpetrators of same are here! I work in General Population as opposed to Administrative Segregation or "High Security". In Ad Seg and HS, the inmates are locked down 23 hours a day. They eat in their cells, receiving their tray through a "bean slot". In General Population, they're all around you. Inmate management skills are a necessity!
                          
                            There's nothing quite like being alone in a chow hall with 80 convicted felons and having to tell a row of tables that their time is up and it's time to go "back to the house". 
                          
                            As a cop I had been in bar fights, family fights, resisting arrest fights and even a gun fight. In a maximum security prison you're outnumbered and you've got no place to run and hide. It makes police work seem like child's play.  
                          
                            I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, but they say that constantly having to learn something new keeps the brain young. We'll see! 
                          
                              73,
                            
                                Maynard