Staying in 1970s fine with Luke sergeant

  • Published
  • By Stephen Delgado
  • Thunderbolt staff writer
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  We often hear the term 'old school' referring to someone who does things in an old-fashioned way. Luke Air Force Base has a sergeant who fits this description.

Meet Tech. Sgt. Dean Lucas, 56th Security Forces Squadron pass and registration augmentee. He is on temporary assignment from the 944th Fighter Wing where he is a fuels craftsman.

Some might say he is stuck in the 1970s, and Lucas said he would proudly agree. Knowing him is like taking a trip to retro land.

"The biggest thing I liked about the seventies was how much people appreciated life," he said. "After the Vietnam War and all of the civil issues of the 1960s, people looked at life differently than we do now. I call it a zest for life, which I don't see as much today."

Not only that, Lucas owns five muscle cars ranging from 1967 to 1971, as well as an IBM electric typewriter, and he doesn't have a cell phone.

"I love that typewriter," he said. "Everything else in the office quits working at times, but my typewriter just keeps going."

The '70s had everything to offer including some of the most memorable rock and roll, television shows and movies, and Lucas relished the music, shows and movies when they were new, and he still does today.

"The '70s were an incredible decade for music with great acts like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Bee Gees to name a few, as well as great television shows such as "M*A*S*H," "The Waltons," "The Streets of San Francisco" and "Happy Days," he said. "Some of my favorite movies are Stars Wars, American Graffiti, Jaws, Taxi Driver and Two-Lane Blacktop."

Lucas graduated from high school in 1975 and has numerous special memories of the decade, but a few are particularly special.

"I was 11 when the decade began and 21 when it ended," he said. "There were so many great memories and events on a personal level, but a few stand out. I particularly remember snowmobiling in Wisconsin with my family, getting my driver's license the day I turned 15 years, six months, my first girlfriend, joining the Air Force and my first muscle car."

In a decade that he reveled in, there was a year that Lucas felt was the highlight of 70s.

"My favorite year was 1979 because life was going very well for me," he said. "I had a new girlfriend, a lot of friends, a new engine in my muscle car and life in Air Force was going well. I was an E-4 and living off base. It was a year of great times and memories."

There were a myriad of personal highlights and memories, but Lucas said he has a special place in his memory for the profound news and sports events that the 1970s left us.

He said the three historical events that happened in the 70s -- the end of the Vietnam War in 1973, the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 and the birth and progress of the space shuttle program -- were the events that defined the 1970s.

The sporting world offered a ton of thrills in the 1970s.

"The Olympics belonged to America and were highlighted with great athletes such as Mark Spitz, Bruce Jenner and Dorothy Hamill," he said. "The Miami Dolphins had the only undefeated record in National Football League history going 17-0 in 1972. There was the 'Immaculate Reception' of Franco Harris as he led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a miraculous victory over the Oakland Raiders in the 1972 playoffs. And, don't forget Howard Cosell who made any football game he was involved with a good time."

Lucas said he is used to people's remarks when they see him unattached from modern gadgets.

"It usually starts when people see me typing on my old IBM typewriter," he said. "I get asked, 'Is that a typewriter?' Then invariably someone in the office will remark that I don't have a cell phone, and to top it off, people in the office become aware that I drive a car that is more than 40 years old. It amuses me when these same people will tell me that they wish they didn't have a cell phone or how they had an old car like mine that they wish they still had."

Lucas was in the Air Force from 1976 to 1980 serving at Luke, and after leaving the Air Force, he worked for Sperry Aviation in Phoenix. He came back to the military in 1987, joining the 944th Fighter Wing. Although he is a fuels specialist, he has been an augmentee with the security forces.

He served with the 355th SFS at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, from March 1, 2004, to Sept. 30, 2005, and then a day later he joined the 56th SFS at Luke. He is still with them, but officially remains with the 944th FW.

As time marches on and technologies change as fast as Midwestern weather, Lucas is comfortable with a time that was slower and not so obsessed with the latest high-tech toys of today. He hasn't embraced the mad rush to have the latest technologies and for now, that's how it will stay.