Kim, Eric
Haynes, Tamera
Period 6
John Dutto
U.S. Air Force
1974 – 1978
John Dutto
John Dutto was born on November 26, 1955. After graduating from high school in 1973,
John found himself looking for opportunities to make a living as well as to support his family.
Obtaining a well-paid job, however, was tough to find without a college degree and paying for
college was even a bigger dilemma. He looked at five to six different jobs, but none of them
really stood out except one, air trafficking. At the time, John was not familiar with what an air
traffic controller was. In fact, he did not even know that it was a part of a branch of the U.S.
military. When learning more about air traffic control, he found the job interesting enough to
enlist and as a way to serve his country.
The newly joined man flew from California to San Antonio, Texas to train and to learn
about traffic control and the military. General training lasted about 6 weeks, depicting the images
of a standard military movie: the soldiers were yelled at, had uniform fittings, had inspections,
took tests, etc., all the things to help prepare them for the military. After the six and a half weeks
of training, he was sent to Mississippi to begin his work.
During his time of work, John fought through hard and stressful tasks. Dutto stated that
the work was stressful because he dealt with a high-tech job responsible for the lives of many
others. Air traffic control would command pilots flying planes between whopping 300 and 600
miles per hour. At those crazy speeds, any small error from the command at ground level could
create disaster in seconds. The average workday consisted of 8 hours with lots of variation to add
additional hours in the men’s schedules. In his time, people did not even have counselors or
therapists to vent to, and at the age of 18, John was susceptible to serious tension. The training he
had gone through was serious; there was no time to play silly pranks or jokes on each other. He
and other cadets trained Iranian pilots who spoke broken English, so listening and instructing the
individuals carefully was essential for their jobs. He faced major conflicts such as pilots losing
control of their aircraft and signals of aircrafts disappearing. This added to the intense struggle
for the command control.
However, the men were not always working tiresome shifts. During their leisure time, he
and his workmates played sports like basketball, softball, and bowling. John was quick to
making friends with the other men since many of them were relatable to each other, enlisting
mostly for the sake of government aid, food, and sheltering at early ages. John called home about
once a week and was able to visit his family back in California often during vacations. In air
trafficking, one of his most honorable feats was saving a pilot, who had been roaming in between
Mexico and the U.S., from crashing. The Air Force awarded John’s respectable work with the
Air Force Accommodation Medal. On October 1978, he was discharged from the air force. John
had the option to re-enlist, but ultimately he decided not to. This hero’s service in the military
was then officially over.
While he worked for air traffic control, John made about $400 a month not including tax
deductions. After taxes, only about $275 was left each month, so he forced himself to be
conservative in the time being. His economic status however changed after the G.I. Bill benefits.
For a whole year, John was allowed to receive economic bonuses because of his military
contribution. With the extra allowances, he lavishly paid for his children’s college tuition and
educational needs. Following his employment in the Air Force, he got a job at a steel
manufacturing company, making structures such as poles for football stadiums. Later, from
1978 to 1982, he began working with the Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control
and at LAX for about 34 years. Working at LAX, John experienced similar work from the Air
Force. In 2007, he saw the AeroMéxico Flight 498 disappear from the radar, which led to the
plane’s destructive crash and a large casualty count of 82 people. At the age of 56, he was forced
to retire. John quotes that he enjoyed working with the FAA because being with the FAA he did
not have to worry about getting laid off or having to retire early.
John states that he enjoyed working in the Air Force and that he does not regret joining it
either despite all of the hard work it took. Clearly, one can tell that John’s life has become a
success from the devotion to his work in shaping America today and its ever-growing history. He
currently resides with his wife in Murrieta, California. John has three kids who own seven
businesses in the area of Apple Valley, and two of his kids own major degrees. Working in the
Air Force has really changed his life forever. In the end, John Dutto was a successful man, and
not only did he serve for his country during the Vietnam War, he served for his own family too.