Ron Shives of Struthers poses for his basic training photo in 1987 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

STRUTHERS — Ron Shives, an Air Force veteran, said when he was shipped to the Middle East during the Persian Gulf War, he didn’t know where he was until being told a day after his arrival.

“I was assigned hazardous duty in a war zone and, when the bay doors opened, all we saw was sand,” Shives said. “We were marched off the planes and driven to ‘tent city,’ where we stayed from early December 1990 until April 1991. I was scared, but I was super pumped because I was defending our country.”

Shives was trained in electronics, specifically as an avionic sensor technician repairing equipment on F-4 Phantom jets.

It turned out Shives was sent to the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, near the Syrian border. It was the base the Air Force used to fly bombing missions in Iraq during the war.

“My primary role was to make sure (the F-4) systems were operational, but everybody helped everybody,” Shives said. “I was doing metal shop, packing parachutes, working on instrument panels, hydraulics. You learn pretty fast.”

All of the work on the jets was done underground on 12-hour shifts that Shives said usually meant 18-hour days between processing and being taken back and forth to the tents he and others lived in on the base.

“It was tiresome, but I was a young guy,” he said. “I had a lot of energy. You were on a big high because you were defending your country. The Persian Gulf War was to get Iraq out of Kuwait. Once that happened, our job was done.”

Shives said he saw a number of planes return to the base with damage after being fired upon.

“There were a lot of emotions,” he said. “ ’Scared’ was one of them and probably top for me. My grandfather told me there were many men and women who served so you could have freedom, and you should do the same. That was one of the things that stuck with me.”

Shives added: “Never once did I say, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ I was proud to serve.”

Shives joined the Air Force in January 1987 after a year attending Youngstown State University.

“It was between the Navy and the Air Force,” he said. “There are a lot of Navy veterans in my family, but my older brother, Tom, went into the Air Force in 1985. That led to my decision.”

After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Shives went to electronics training technical school at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver for nearly 11 months.

He was moved to the Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to work on F-4 Phantom jets. His brother was also stationed there.

“It was a great experience,” Shives said. “When I left Shaw, I was trained in my field with two years’ experience.”

Shives then chose to be transferred to the Zweibruken Air Base in Germany.

“I wanted to see what it would be like to serve overseas,” he said. “It was a great experience.”

Shives served there until he was deployed to the Persian Gulf and then back to Germany after the war until they closed the facility in 1991.

Shives had signed up for four years of active duty and four years of inactive duty.

But the Air Force told him: “You’re going to be involuntarily extended because of my job code,” Shives said.

Shives was given the choice between going to the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia or Osan Air Base in South Korea.

“I chose Osan,” he said. “I figured I’d see the Pacific. I was already in South Carolina and I could always go to Georgia.”

He was there from May 1991 to July 1992, working on the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the A-10 Warthog jets.

“When I was in Korea, I thought of making the military my career, but I didn’t think that was my path,” Shives said.

When he was discharged in July 1992, Shives said he tried to get a job with various airlines, but the business was going through changes, and he couldn’t find employment in the field.

“I ended up never working on planes again, but my career is in electronics,” he said. “I sell security systems to banks and credit unions — alarms, video, fire and access control.”

He started working for Diebold in July 1993 as a technician fixing ATMs and alarm systems. After getting his bachelor’s degree in business / marketing from YSU in 2000, he managed technicians and in 2001, he moved to the sales side and became a senior account executive.

Diebold sold its security business in 2016 to Securitas Technology.

Shives handles the company’s account with PNC Bank, its second-largest customer.

“My time in the Air Force gave me the skills for my 30-plus career that’s still going today,” he said.

Shives also is in his 10th year on the Struthers City School District Board of Education and his fifth year as a Mahoning County Career and Technical Center board member.

“People ask me about the military,” he said. “I don’t regret a day I served, but I knew I didn’t want to serve another day. Not to take away from my mom and dad, but Uncle Sam was the nudge to make me grow up and made me the person I am today.”

Ron Shives

AGE: 56

RESIDENCE: Struthers

SERVICE BRANCH: Air Force

MILITARY HONORS: Desert Storm medal, Good Conduct medal, Air Force achievement medal

OCCUPATION: Sales account executive for Securitas Technology

FAMILY: Wife, Megan; three daughters, McKenna, Karli and Kamryn