CIRCA 1972: AIRMAN 1ST CLASS TOBIN PRACTICING ON HIS 1964 FENDER JAZZ BASS
IN HIS BARRACKS ROOM AT HAMILTON AIR FORCE BASE, NOVATO, CALIFORNIA.
Although Memorial Day first came about to honor those in the military who gave their lives during the Civil War (and all wars ever since), today, Memorial Day is the last Monday in May of a 3-day weekend that kicks off the unofficial first day of summer. In the spirit of what Memorial Day is all about, I give you the story of my military experience...
After graduating Hamilton High School in 1971, I didn't want to go to college. My reasoning was, I just got out of "prison" for 12 years, why would I want to go back? Besides, the only classes in school I ever liked were the ones where I got to create things: orchestra, wood shop, metal shop, drafting, print shop, leather & plastics, and photography. (Driver's Ed/Training was cool, too...) The things I learned in those classes still serve me well today.
But I didn't want to hang out with my pals for another summer "getting into trouble," so mom suggested I see the Air Force recruiter and take the proficiency test. My older sister, Michele, had gone in the Air Force a year before and she was doing alright, according to mom.
So I took the test and scored near the top in the electronics and mechanical fields. The recruiter told me I could pretty much pick my job in the electronics field, so I went for it.
Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) in San Antonio, Texas, was the wake-up call I needed to choose my path; I instantly knew that I wasn't going to do Air Force for the rest of my life, so I had 4 years to figure it out! That's when I dove into music like my life depended on it (it did!).
After Basic, there was Tech School in Biloxi, Mississippi. Not exactly the best Air Force base to be stationed, but I had more free time after electronics studies, which I used to jam with fellow airmen musicians at the base Coffee House. It was here I'd be playing songs by Cat Stevens on the piano, and it was here that I wrote my first song, "Rain." I also heard the Allman Brother's "Idlewild South" blaring out of another airmen's barracks window and I just had to get that album!
Hamilton AFB in Marin County, California, was my next duty station and it was paradise! (see photo above) This was basically a day job working on radio equipment and I had the rest of my time to explore the beauty of northern California, jam with local musicians, go to concerts, buy music equipment, modify music equipment, practice, eat at great restaurants, and ride my Honda 450 motorcycle to Mount Tamalpias, Muir Woods and the awesome coastline north of the Golden Gate.
