thedrifter
06-22-07, 08:40 AM
Chief Warrant Officer Pete O’Hare’s job is to help assure the future of the Marine Corps. He doesn’t do this through pool functions at a recruiting station. He does this through wowing civilians, service members and future Marines with air shows.
“I still firmly believe in the future of the military,” said the Brooklyn, N.Y. native. “I help organize air shows to become involved in reaching out to the community and recruiting.”
O’Hare is the air show director for the “Blues on the Bay” air show, which features the Blue Angels, and is slated to come to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay in October.
Raised in a family with a military history, O’Hare was born in Brooklyn, and lived at the since-closed Brooklyn Navy Yard. His father, who worked for the Department of the Navy, was sent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where O’Hare attended junior and senior high school.
His great uncle Butch O’Hare was a famous pilot and the Chicago O’Hare airport is named after him. Although O’Hare never met his great uncle, who died 15 years before O’Hare was born, they both share a love for flight.
O’Hare joined the Marine Corps in 1978 and has served as a reservist since then. He got involved in air shows in 1994 when the Corps was looking for Marines with pilot’s licenses to be in air shows.
As a reservist he earned his credit hours over weekends at the air shows, involved in community outreach and recruiting efforts.
He performed in air shows until 2001 when he was activated and sent to the Middle East. Between 2001 and 2003 he was responsible for expeditionary aircraft in Kuwait, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. He has been organizing air shows since 2003.
During his time in the military, specifically being involved in air shows, O’Hare has learned a lot. “The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is about interpersonal relations,” he said. “I’ve learned how to deal with people. I’ve learned a lot from my civilian career as a manager and the relationship between my two careers.”
O’Hare recently retired after 25 years with Hewlett Packard. He worked there outsourcing critical support, resolving issues with technical, contract and personnel issues for North and South America.
He decided to retire so he could be fully committed to his job as an air show director.
“To be successful in this job, in any job, you have to have 100 percent focus,” he said while fielding a non-stop barrage of phone calls.
Family has also been a very important support net for O’Hare. His wife, Suzan, and 9-year-old daughter Savannah have been extremely supportive and understanding of his work.
“Me being here is better than me being deployed, but it still takes an incredible amount of support and understanding to be married to a reservist,” he said of his wife.
O’Hare said his daughter sent him video tapes of herself talking when he was deployed overseas, and now they read books to each other on the phone.
“They’re both very patriotic,” he said. “They understand the risks it takes to have a free society.”
O’Hare said it’s not just service members who pay the price of freedom in America. Family members, spouses and coworkers pay the price as well, but it’s young servicemembers who prove to be heroes.
“The young service members today are people who, knowing the current situations and current events, have decided to stand up, join the Marine Corps and offer themselves in defense of the country,” he said. This is why his job is so important to the Marine Corps, he explained.
“We have to continue the community outreach and recruiting and keep the Marine Corps full of young people who are willing to protect the country,” he said. “My hat goes of to the service members.”
O’Hare is looking forward to the upcoming air show because he wants to share the military culture with the local community.
“It’s important that we do this air show for the Oahu community,” he said. “We need to pay them back for the things we do here, and show them what it is we do in the military. It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for everyone on Oahu because, being on an island, it’s not like they can go to many air shows on the continental United States.”
“I still firmly believe in the future of the military,” said the Brooklyn, N.Y. native. “I help organize air shows to become involved in reaching out to the community and recruiting.”
O’Hare is the air show director for the “Blues on the Bay” air show, which features the Blue Angels, and is slated to come to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay in October.
Raised in a family with a military history, O’Hare was born in Brooklyn, and lived at the since-closed Brooklyn Navy Yard. His father, who worked for the Department of the Navy, was sent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard where O’Hare attended junior and senior high school.
His great uncle Butch O’Hare was a famous pilot and the Chicago O’Hare airport is named after him. Although O’Hare never met his great uncle, who died 15 years before O’Hare was born, they both share a love for flight.
O’Hare joined the Marine Corps in 1978 and has served as a reservist since then. He got involved in air shows in 1994 when the Corps was looking for Marines with pilot’s licenses to be in air shows.
As a reservist he earned his credit hours over weekends at the air shows, involved in community outreach and recruiting efforts.
He performed in air shows until 2001 when he was activated and sent to the Middle East. Between 2001 and 2003 he was responsible for expeditionary aircraft in Kuwait, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. He has been organizing air shows since 2003.
During his time in the military, specifically being involved in air shows, O’Hare has learned a lot. “The most valuable lesson I’ve learned is about interpersonal relations,” he said. “I’ve learned how to deal with people. I’ve learned a lot from my civilian career as a manager and the relationship between my two careers.”
O’Hare recently retired after 25 years with Hewlett Packard. He worked there outsourcing critical support, resolving issues with technical, contract and personnel issues for North and South America.
He decided to retire so he could be fully committed to his job as an air show director.
“To be successful in this job, in any job, you have to have 100 percent focus,” he said while fielding a non-stop barrage of phone calls.
Family has also been a very important support net for O’Hare. His wife, Suzan, and 9-year-old daughter Savannah have been extremely supportive and understanding of his work.
“Me being here is better than me being deployed, but it still takes an incredible amount of support and understanding to be married to a reservist,” he said of his wife.
O’Hare said his daughter sent him video tapes of herself talking when he was deployed overseas, and now they read books to each other on the phone.
“They’re both very patriotic,” he said. “They understand the risks it takes to have a free society.”
O’Hare said it’s not just service members who pay the price of freedom in America. Family members, spouses and coworkers pay the price as well, but it’s young servicemembers who prove to be heroes.
“The young service members today are people who, knowing the current situations and current events, have decided to stand up, join the Marine Corps and offer themselves in defense of the country,” he said. This is why his job is so important to the Marine Corps, he explained.
“We have to continue the community outreach and recruiting and keep the Marine Corps full of young people who are willing to protect the country,” he said. “My hat goes of to the service members.”
O’Hare is looking forward to the upcoming air show because he wants to share the military culture with the local community.
“It’s important that we do this air show for the Oahu community,” he said. “We need to pay them back for the things we do here, and show them what it is we do in the military. It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for everyone on Oahu because, being on an island, it’s not like they can go to many air shows on the continental United States.”