Currently viewing the tag: "United States Air Force"

Airman First Class Ballenger

From Rocky Ridge to Japan …and Beyond

by Richard D. L. Fulton

Life-long Rocky Ridge resident, Emily Ballenger (pictured right), during a short two-year span during which she lived in Texas, decided to seek out a career move, and subsequently signed on with the United States Air Force.

Ballenger is the daughter of John and Linda Ballenger, owners of Buck Forest Farm in Rocky Ridge, which now also serves as her home. Her father served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saratoga in the 1960s.  Her brother, John “Jay” Ballenger, served in the Army in Afghanistan.

Ballenger signed up for the air service in Dallas in 2003 and trained at the Lackland, Texas, Air Force boot camp in Bexar County, Texas, for a half dozen weeks before being assigned to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. 

Ballenger spent eight weeks in Biloxi, six weeks training and two additional weeks awaiting an assignment. When the assignment came through, she found herself enroute to Misawa Air Base, located in the northern part of the island of Honshu in Japan, where she was attached to the 35th Communication Squadron which is a component of the 35th Mission Support Group, 35th Fighter Wing. 

The base is a joint service installation and houses three United States military services—Air Force, Navy, and Army—as well as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.  Ballenger noted that there were also American Marines located there.

She served as an Air Force administrative assistant/information manager. Ballenger described the installation as a “fairly large base… nicely laid out,” which was “very quiet.” She said the base was being constantly upgraded throughout the time she was there.

She was able to spend some time touring, her main form of off-base entertainment, and even purchased a motorcycle there for simply getting around, touring the area. “I loved it in Japan,” she said, adding, “The culture there is amazing.” 

Ballenger said that particular area of Japan is primarily agricultural, which made her feel more “at home” (the Buck Forest Farm being some 140 acres in size).  The town of Misawa, she said, was about the size of Thurmont, noting, “It was so nice. It was like being at home.”

She served in Japan two years before being discharged and sent home. The only downside to her service in Japan was contracting “stress-related arthritis and fibromyalgia, which resulted in her having been diagnosed as being 50 percent disabled.

Ballenger was honorably discharged from the Air Force at Misawa Air Base in August 2006.

Following her return to the United States, Ballenger served as a photographer for the (now defunct) Emmitsburg Dispatch, photography being among her obsessions. She now runs her own photography business, Twilight Photography, primarily focusing on outdoor events and subjects. 

“My love of photographing nature and horses brought me to share my passion with others,” she said, adding, “I would have to describe my photography style as a bit of photojournalism mixed with fine art and a sprinkle of spontaneity.”

Her other obsession includes horses. Her home, Buck Forest Farm, served as a boarding facility for horses for many years. Presently, Ballenger also offers riding instructions, and currently has three horses of her own.

She said her experience in the Air Force has “taught me a lot about integrity and working hard.” As an administrative business professional, she learned skills related to initiating and managing a business.

For more on Ballenger’s Twilight Photography, visit twilightphotographymd.com.  For riding lessons, contact Emily Ballenger at 301-473-1504.

Remembering Jim Spalding

by Jim Houck, Jr.

James Irvin Spalding, life-long resident of Thurmont, passed away peacefully in his home on May 19, 2014, at the age of seventy-five. He was the loving husband of Ellen L. Sutton Spalding for twenty-three years.

Born January 23, 1939, in Thurmont, he was the son of the late Charles “Hamp” Spalding and Helen M. Gourley Spalding. Jim served in the United States Air Force for four years. He worked for the Maryland State Highway Administration as a Maintenance Foreman for thirty-four years, and earned—along with his father, Charles “Hamp” Spalding, and brother, Don Spalding—a family accolade for 109 of combined service to the organization (Jim worked thirty-four years, Don worked for thirty-seven years, and Hamp worked for thirty-eight years).

Jim was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, a life-member and past Post Commander of AMVETS Post 7 in Thurmont, a member of the American Legion Post 121 in Emmitsburg, a member of the South Mountain Rod and Gun Club, and a member of the Guardian Hose Company in Thurmont.

Jim was an athlete. At Thurmont High School, he played soccer, basketball, and baseball. In 1956 and 1957, his team won the Frederick County Championship for basketball. He loved to dance and was good at it. He loved to have fun, tease people, and laugh with them. He loved to cook and have his family for Sunday and holiday dinners. He helped the fire company in preparing food for different events. He was involved with family functions and the community. On most days, he would wake early and set the coffee on for his wife, Ellen, then set about making his rounds to Bollinger’s Restaurant, to Shuff’s Meat Market, to Hobb’s Hardware, and, sometimes, to Timeless Trends, before setting back home. He was a father that never missed an event, ball game, outing, party, or celebration, and most of the time, he was the first to arrive. He didn’t promise to be there, HE WAS THERE!

Jim made sure family and friends came together for one of his favorite activities: butchering. He guarded his recipes for pon haus closely, and only shared the recipes with a few select individuals, imparting the knowledge slowly and sometimes without their knowledge. Those who had the privilege of tasting his recipes know that his are some of the best.

Jim’s daughter, Kathy Hovermale, said, “He taught me so many things, and I have a lot of funny stories I could tell you about jokes he played on me.” One story she told was about Jim walking her down the aisle on her wedding day. She recalled, “When it was just him and me in the back of the church, he kissed me, told me he loved me, then kicked the side door open and said, ‘Last chance—we can run; I’ll go with you!’” Jim found Kathy and her husband, Keith, a house that turned out to be right up the street from Jim’s house in Thurmont. Kathy said people thought she was crazy moving so close to her family. Kathy said that since moving in, “I needed them [Jim and her mother, Ellen] a thousand more times than they ever needed me. I ate their food, sat on their porch, and spent more time there bothering them than the other way around.”

Jim’s niece, Diane Miller who passed away in September of 2016, said, “We talked on the phone every day, and some days two, three, or four times, depending on what was going on. I had to keep him updated on what was going on around the farm.” She recalled his relationships with the farm animals, saying he wasn’t too fond of cats, but was very involved with all aspects of the farm. She recalled him often asking what she was going to do when he wasn’t around to help with it anymore. Diane said, “I know it’s not realistic, but I never thought that day would ever come.”

An ornery youngster, an elementary school teacher of Jim’s wrote on one of his report cards that he, “had a rather happy-go-lucky attitude about it all.” For all who knew him, that described him well. He made friends wherever he went, even befriending a lady who had mistaken him for “Steve” during a rest on a bench in a Walmart.

In addition to his wife, Jim’s family members still miss him greatly. He is survived by two daughters, Mary Mahoney and husband, Michael, of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, and Kathryn Hovermale and husband, Keith, of Thurmont; his grandson, James Austin Hovermale of Thurmont; his brothers, Donald L. Spalding and his wife, Joan, of Thurmont, and Charles E. Spalding, also of Thurmont; neice Lisa Campbell and husband, Todd, and their daughter Katy, of Hagerstown, Maryland; nephew, Mark Spalding, neice-in-law, Deb, and their children, Lydia and Hayden, of Thurmont; and nephew Randy Miller, of Sabillasville.

God Bless the United States of America, God Bless the American Veteran, and God Bless You.

James Irvin Spalding

Courtesy Photo