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Vic Klingler, Past1st Vice Commander

Post 1st Vice Commander Vic Klingler hasn’t let any dust settle under his feet…other than maybe sawdust from his woodworking hobby. Born in Minnesota, his family moved back and forth to Idaho and the LC Valley a couple of times before he joined the Air Force and made even more moves. Signing on the dotted line sent him to basic training at Parks Air Force Base in Dublin, California. From there he was bounced to Scott AFB in Belleville, IL for high frequency radio and mobile medium-power radio training. Then it was off to the 69th Tactical Missile Command followed by the 603rd Air Control and Warning Squadron for a total of three years in Germany. Back to the states, Vic found himself with the Strategic Air Command at Warren AFB, Cheyenne, WY assigned to the Computer Operations and Maintenance Launch Crew working with the Atlas missile and special purpose vehicles. “I served at 14 Air Force Bases, the last being in Goose Bay, Labrador, which is now a Canadian Forces Base. I was working in airborne radio maintenance, debriefing pilots about communications and enjoying the work; but my time there gave me 20 years to the day, and I was out of there,” Klingler said. Back to the states, he became an alarm technician with Moon Security in Pasco followed by two years of pre-engineering study at Columbia Basin College. “While studying, I worked parttime for Sears as a janitor, but the manager started me programming their cash registers. That caught the eye of TRW and they hired me in Seattle…again working on cash registers. “That led me to work for Boeing,” Klingler said. “I spent 15 years with them in production planning. During that time, I also studied electrical engineering technology at Cogswell College in Everett, WA.” “My final job change was to go with NCR Corporation, previously known as National Cash Register, a software, consulting and technology company. Four years with them and I decided it was time to retire,” Klingler concluded. With all those moves, he still had time to get married. His wife, who passed away in 2018, had a son and daughter and Vic now has three grandchildren and seven great grandchildren…six boys and one girl. His daughter is deceased, but the son lives not too far away in St. John, WA. Hobby time continues to be his military model building pictured in this WEB site; but his second pastime is woodworking which fits in nicely with building display cabinets for his more than 200 models.