
Richard "Rich" Scanga
US Air Force
Airman First Class
Cold War Warrior
My Story
​After graduating High School in Salida, Colorado, Rich enlisted in the Air Force in December of 1959 and was sent to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas for Basic Training.
From there, he was assigned to the technical school at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he was trained as a Morse intercept operator. Upon graduation, Rich received a “Top Secret” Security Clearance at the top of his class and was assigned to the Air Force Security Service.
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He was deployed to the 6984th Security Squadron on Shemya, Alaska. A remote radar site in the Aleutian Islands where he spent one year electronically protecting our northernmost border. Afterward this deployment, Rich attended Advanced Technical Training at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, Texas.
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Then Richard was shipped to Misawa, Japan, and assigned to the 6989th Security Squadron. After a two-year deployment in that country, he was honorably discharged from the Air Force in November of 1963.