Mark (Twitch) Mitchell

Last Updated 7/25/03

BEFORE TAMU

• Scot-Irish Dad was a Marine fighter pilot, Japanese Mom a soprano singer (call me Keanu! HA!).
• Was oldest of four kids...born at Camp Pendleton, CA with a "high and tight" haircut.
• Born in CA,
• Lived in Texas with Mom and Grandma, Dad was fighting in Korea
• Then NC,
• Back to CA,
• Moved to Beeville, TX, Dad was a Marine flight instructor,
• Back to NC, Dad retired,
• Back again to Beeville where parents still live today.
• Went to catholic schools mostly except for High School,
• Played guitar and sang the Folk Mass at church,
• Did the Honors class thing at school,
• Joined all the school clubs for the parties (Key Club President),
• Voted "Most Outstanding Senior" ...didn't help get many chicks,
• Learned to surf at Padre Island in them there "rollers" (fisherman for waves),
• Dated the same girl for three years...she dumped me the summer before my fish year,
• Thomas Pivonka was my good friend who convinced me to go to Aggieland.

AT TAMU (most brain cells still intact)

• Majored in Mechanical Engineering (didn't last!)
• Assigned to Heaven's Eleven
• Refused flying job by USAF
  • Admitted I had been knocked unconscious once
  • USAF said I might go CRAZY while flying their airplanes
  • Marines said I'd have to be CRAZY to want to fly one of their airplanes
  • Sold me I had NEVER been knocked unconscious once
  • Attended two "Boot Camps"...after fish year, then after sergebutt year, Quantico, VA
  • Got $100/mo, nylon flight jacket, aviator shades, 36 hours in the Cessna 150

• Accepted by the US MARINES
• Corieolis Vector forced me to change majors...Sergebutt year went to Civil Engineering
• Made Cadet Captain (I think that was what 3 Buttons meant), was Squadron 11 XO.
• "Survived all 4 years" Heaven's 11 graduate.
• Crammed four year academic program into 4 1/2 years plus summer schools.
• Graduated BS CE, Commissioned 2nd Lt, and Married Janice (ouch!) in December 1972.

THE BEGINNING (some minor brain cell loss from TAMU experience)

• The Basic School, Quantico, VA...because every Marine is a RIFLEMAN first!
• Primary Flight Training, Pensacola, FL...T-34B Mentor prop job
• Basic Jet Flight Training, Beeville, TX...T-2 Buckeye (Yep! Lived down the street from Parents)
• Advanced Jet Training, Beeville, TX...TA-4 Skyhawk
• Replacement Air Group Training, Yuma, AZ...F-4B Phantoms
• Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 235, Kaneohe, HI...F-4J Phantoms (my first gun squadron!)
  • Jobs held: Flight Line Division OIC, Admin Div OIC, Skeds O, Asst Pilot Training O
  • Two pumps to Far East
  • Forward Air Controller, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade
  • Naval Air Weapons Fighter School "TOPGUN" Graduate
  • Five years of major brain cell damage conducted here!
  • Marine Aviation Weapons Tactics School, Yuma, AZ...Tactics Instructor, Researched and presented lectures on Soviet Threat and Tactics
  • Trained chosen pilots to be squadron Weapons and Tactics Instructors
  • Certified squadron pilots to be Air Combat Tactics Instructor qualified
  • Traveled extensively, briefed muki-mucks and industry suits on what the hell we really needed
  • Many of the pilots on the failed Tehran hostage rescue attempt were my squadron mates here
  • Three years killing more brain cells
• Navy Fighter Squadron 125, Lemoore, CA...Transition training F/A-18A/B Hornet
• Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, El Toro, CA...F/A-18A Hornet
  • Jobs held: Maintenance Div OIC, Safety/Standardization OIC, Operations Div OIC
  • Deployed USS Coral Sea...first taste of BLOOD!
    • Crossed "Line of Death, attacked Bin Gahzi, Libya, kicked Momar Kahdafi's butt
  • 185 day and night aircraft carrier landings
  • Three more years of serious brain cell extinction accomplished
• USAF Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB, CA...Yep! Class dummy fer shur
• Class Leader...just meant I was oldest fart there
• Flew 20-25 different aircraft including helos and Goodyear BLIMP!
• Marriage fell apart, got divorced from Janice...my fault, I was a butt hole
• Took a year and about a pound of brain cells to do this one

THE MIDDLE (major reduction in available brain cells becoming apparent)

• Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 5, China Lake, CA...pay back tour for TPS
  • F/A-18A/B/C/D Operational Test Director and later,
  • Chief Operational Test Director...in charge of whole test & eval sha-bang, sha-boom
    • Responsible for Naval strike air weapons operational testing
    • Managed F/A-18, A-7, A-6, E/A-6, AV-8, AH-1 Cobra programs
    • Tested Aircraft upgrades, software upgrades, weapons integration, tactics verification
    • Flew 150 flight hours Night Vision Devices...night vision goggles and FLIR systems
    • Supervised OT&E of Walleye, Maverick, HARM, Shrike, SLAM, Laser Guided Bombs, Sparrow, Sidewinder, 20 mm Gatling gun, TOW, Cluster Bombs, TALDS (airborne decoys), electronic jamming/decoy systems, and yada, yada,, yada....
  • Finished Masters Degree with University of Tennessee, Aviation Systems
  • Selected one of 35 Navy/Marine Astronaut pilot candidates...post Challenger era, NO JOBS!
  • Three years here, and Yep! More dead brain cells
  • Married Dee with her three munchkins...a very happy time in my life!
• Marine Air Group 24, Kaneohe, HI...Back to the FLEET!
  • Desert Storm starts...
    • get call from SWA to get butt out there, my job is to...
    • teach Group CO how to shoot new hi-tech weapons.
    • left Dee with 3 kids in hotel on Oahu with no car, house, or furniture..."See ya later, Baby!"
  • Planning/Targeting OIC for MAG-12, assign targets, write MAG flight sked, assist Ops OIC
  • Flew twice a day, F/A-18C single seat fighter, F/A-18D dual seat Fast Forward Air Controller
  • Got 40 Missions: dropped bombs on Iraqi airfields, fired HARMS at French radar sites, escorted EA-6Bs, as a FAC marked hundreds of targets with 2.75" and 5" WP rockets, destroyed tanks, multiple rocket launches, chow trucks, bunches of artillery pieces, set oil trenches on fire, unloaded cluster bombs on defensive lines, 2000 pounders into German built hangarettes...LOADS OF FUN!
  • The Marine Corps General on scene gave orders that no one was to have any fun while in country. Yeah, Right! But, only about 1/4 pound of brain cells lost in five months.

THE END (near total brain cell loss)

• Commanding Officer, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232
  • "The RED DEVIL" F/A-18C Squadron at Kaneohe Bay, HI
  • Deployed to Iwakuni Japan, returned
  • Easiest job I ever had (except for the fact that I was never home)
  • When leaving, squadron gave me a custom made SURFBOARD, Red Devil fin flash on the deck
• 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade Air Officer...my first "Staff" job in 20 years...getting tired now
• Retired from the USMC (remember, "Howdy Mr. Usmick, Sir!"?)
  • Did 20 years to the day...Jan 4, 1973 to Jan 4, 1993
  • God bless Dee for hanging in there with me through all the hell I put her through. There were rough times, and some scary times, lonely times, and times of uncertainty, but she never faltered...she was always there for me. She was my rock, my pillar of strength, my light.
  • By now I Have no measurable brain cell mass remaining...so, they wanted to make me a Colonel

.A NEW LIFE!

• Hired by United Airlines...First Officer (F/O), Boeing 737 Los Angeles, CA.
  • Started out in Palmdale, CA - 7 years...built redwood SURFBOARDS
  • Flight Officer Boeing 757/767
  • Moved to Aliso Viejo, CA (3 years)...built ELECTRIC GUITARS
  • Flight Officer Boeing 777
  • Moved down the road to San Clemente, CA (1 year) where we reside today..surf a lot now
  • Flight Officer Boeing 747

The Eulogy (it's all gone, but Dee takes care of me now)

So how do we measure the worth of our lives and the impact of our existence? Is it through the places we've been or the jobs we've held, or the medals on our chest? What legacy do we leave that others may remember? Do you write a book, do you leave a sculpt?

I think the measure of my worth can be found in the thoughts, memories, and actions of my three kids. My legacy is in their souls. What was important in my life...duty, honor, country, family, discipline, caring, fairness, gentleness, justice, compassion, firmness, and from Dee, love and Godliness...I see glimmers of all these values in my children's hearts.

Rita, Daniel, and Mike made it to adulthood ALIVE, with no drug, alcohol, or nicotine dependency, and all three are hard working, tax paying citizens. Rita is a Registered Nurse like her Mom and lives in Las Vegas, NV with her husband, Greg, and daughter, Emma Fay. Daniel is a Certified Nursing Assistant in Hot Springs, AR and just had a baby boy with his wife, Terra. Mike is a Forward Observer for the Army's 10th Mountain Division at Ft Drum, NY. He was decorated for heroism while under fire during combat operations in Afghanistan. He received two battlefield promotions and is now awaiting his sergeants stripes after less than two years on active duty.

They are God fearing, family oriented, and patriotic young people with growing families of their own...and they are where my successes in life are manifest. Rita and Daniel and their spouses have blessed Dee and I with grand children, and so the legacy continues.

My children are the measure of my worth, they are my legacy, they are what I've got to show for

"...27 years of making my living riding in this rodeo..." (apologies to George Strait).

More Twitch Photos:

Twitch as big time high school senior.	Twitch and Mother in front of dorm 3.
"Easy Rider Mitch" as a fifth year senior living at the Posada del Ray apartments	Twitch and Dad his senior year.
Twitch winning his squadron's beauty contest. He never looked that good when we roomed together at A&M.	Twitch's official Lt. Col mugshot.
You know who as "the Bonzai fighter pilot"	Twitch and step-daughter Rita. Knowing what a cream puff he really is, I know she had him wrapped around her finger.