Squadron says goodbye

Roger McBride was sitting on a two-ton truck at a rest stop 50 miles south of Fresno when he realized he wanted to serve in the Air National Guard no matter what.

At the time he was traveling with the 222nd Combat Communications Squadron based out of Costa Mesa to a training camp in Boise, Idaho. Half the convoy was lost along Route 99, and the squad’s captain blazed up and down the highway looking for errant squad members.

“But we had so much fun; that was what made me decide to stay in the guard,” McBride said.

Since 1973, McBride, 61, of Huntington Beach, has fulfilled almost every duty the Costa Mesa-based post demanded of him, and he has the memories to match. He retired in 2005 from active duty.

McBride will be on hand when the base closes Sunday. The 222nd Combat Communications Squadron of the California Air National Guard leaves Costa Mesa for a new home at Beale Air Force Base, where it will become part of the new 222nd Intelligence Squadron.

The squadron has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Adjutant General’s Outstanding Unit Award in 1969, 1979, 1982, 1985 and 1997; the National Guard Bureau’s On-The-Job Unit Achievement Award in 1964, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1972 as part of the 162d Combat Communications Group.

The Guard members from Costa Mesa have responded to many emergencies over the years, including historic ones such as Hurricane Katrina.

After Sept. 11, the squadron deployed to John Wayne Airport for six months to boost security there until new security could be hired.

More recently the squadron aided the evacuation of Lewis International Airport in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2004.

“I would say it was on the verge of spinning out of control when we got there,” Maj. Kerry Adams recalled. “Those folks and residents that were left behind did not have the capability to care for themselves.

“They were part of society in the most need and there for the worst of it.”

McBride remembers the shocking sight of evacuees carrying all of their worldly possessions in a plastic bag. Some even had weapons because they were mugged on the way over. Others brought gardening tools and were covered in dirt because they had to crawl out of their mud-deluged homes, McBride said.

McBride also recalled how the job allowed him to see the world.

“I’ve been to Korea four times; been to Honduras, Italy.”

But the most important thing McBride took away from the experience in Costa Mesa were the friendships.

“I was a member there 32 years and 7 months,” McBride said. “Some of them [I served with] I am still very good friends with today.”