HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — The Hill Aerospace Museum will host a “Plane Talk” speaker series Saturdays at 1 p.m. in the museum auditorium.
Each week, guest speakers feature topics related to the heritage of Hill AFB, the U.S. Air Force, other military branches, and many other subjects related aerospace and the defense industry. The speaker series is open to the public and admission is free.
Featured speakers in October:
Oct. 6 – Matt Garrand Matthew “M1” Garrand has more than 23 years of service and is an AH-64D Apache Longbow Pilot with the 1-211th “Air Pirates” Attack Reconnaissance Battalion with the Utah Army National Guard.
He has been with the 1-211 ARB since 1994. Garrand started his enlisted career as an Ammunition Specialist with the units 3/5 Platoon (refuel/rearm platoon) until he received his commission in 2002.
After completing Signal Officer Basic, Garrand was selected to command the 3/5 Platoon during the units 2004-2005 deployment to Afghanistan. During this time, he oversaw refuel and rearm operations for Task Force Pirate in RC East to include Bagram and 5 Forward Operating Bases. After this deployment he was selected for Initial Entry Rotary Wing at Fort Rucker, Ala., graduating in 2008.
Garrand then chose to resign his commission and become a Warrant Officer. During the next few years he graduated from the AH-64A transition course and Aviation Safety Officer School. His next assignment was the 2012 deployment to Kunduz, Afghanistan, again with Task Force Pirate. During this deployment he was elevated to Pilot in Command, flew over 350 combat hours, and took over as the Task Force Aviation Safety Officer.
Upon his return he took a UH-72A Lakota transition course and served a year on the Southern Border Mission flying out of Laredo, Texas.
Upon completion of the tour he went back to the 1-211th ARB where he attended the Tactical Operations Officer Course and then was selected to serve a tour in Europe with 4ID MCE in the G3 Air section under Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Upon returning he was hired full time as the Battalion Aviation Safety Officer where he works currently.
Oct. 13 – Robert C. Dabling
Robert C. Dabling was born in Ogden, Utah, educated in Weber County, and is a graduate of Weber State University and the University of Oklahoma. Dabling served as a U.S. Army infantry and military intelligence officer for 21 years with tours in Washington, Arizona, Hawaii, Washington D.C., the Republic of Korea, Colorado, and Germany.
He spent another 15 years as a Department of Defense civilian in Colorado Springs at the North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Space Command, and U.S. Northern Command. He served as acting senior intelligence analyst for Air Force Space Command, a senior intelligence analyst for strategic issues for NORAD, and Nation State Threats Division Chief for NORTHCOM.
He also was a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Inspector and participated in several inspections. He retired from civil service in 2012.
Oct. 20 – Bill Love
Bill Love is a former Airman whose father, mother and brother have all also worn the Air Force blue. He grew up on and around various military installations and spent his early childhood at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,where his lifelong interest in aviation history began. Love is a retired aircraft painter, a published author and a graduate of Weber State University.
Love has served as a Hill Aerospace Museum volunteer since 1988. He has also been employed by the museum as a staffer, art exhibit curator, collections intern, library intern and archival technician.
He has performed restoration and maintenance work on numerous aircraft and artifacts in the museum collection and is currently managing the restoration of the famed F-16A “Little Precious.” In addition, he serves as audiovisual technician and videographer for the museum’s Plane Talk lecture series.
Love regards the Hill Aerospace Museum as his second home and its staff and volunteer community as his second family. His ultimate goal, aside from hitching a ride in an F-16, is to become the first museum volunteer to achieve a half-century of service.
Oct. 27 – Dennis Howland
Dennis Howland served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a sergeant in the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. As a Marine, Howlan accompanied the corpsmen to provide security during his time in Vietnam.
When he returned home, he promised a group of Gold Star ,others who had lost their sons in war that as long as he lived, he “would never let the world forget how important their sons were to the history of this country.”
Howland moved to Utah and dedicated his time starting a chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America and became the organization’s Utah president. He strives to ensure every man that was lost is remembered.
For more information on the Plane Talk lecture series, call 801-825-5936.
