A page from the past: Growing with the gunship

When the 16th Special Operations Squadron first came to Cannon Air Force Base they brought an aviation powerhouse — the AC-130H Spectre gunship, and a man with an extensive knowledge that comes from being on a gunship nearly since its inception.

USAF: Airman 1st Class Xavier Lockley

Barry Wilkins, 16th Special Operations Squadron, poses next to an AC-130H Spectre gunship at Cannon Air Force Base. Wilkins has flown on several models of gunship over past 41 years and educates airmen on the current systems.

Barry Wilkins, a civilian contractor with the 16 SOS, joined the U.S. Air Force in January 1969. During this time, the Vietnam War was raging and the draft was a very real part of American lives. The mentality behind Wilkins decision to join the military was if he was going to fight, he wanted to do it from the air.

Though he started out as a weapons mechanic, Wilkin's early career took many turns that led him to becoming the first ever gunship enlisted sensor operator. This was an aircraft with a mission he loved and he did everything within his power to keep flying aboard it, even volunteering for continuous deployments.

During one of these deployments with the 16 SOS in Ubon, Vietnam, Wilkins was given a tour of the flightline as he first arrived.

"They were showing us where the aircraft were parked and everything," said Wilkins. "On the flightline, there was an A-model gunship that didn't have engines on one side because the night before number three propeller had come off and took out number four propeller. They got the plane back on two engines."

"I'm looking at this airplane and thinking, "My dear, what have I gotten myself into. These guys are shooting at us!'"

This revelation did nothing to deter him from the action.

"That's the spice of life! Gunships have been very good to me. In Vietnam I flew 152 combat missions and the aircraft has always gotten me home. I've flown about 100 more since then, whether it was in Panama, Haiti, Desert One, etc."

Though Wilkins retired in 1996, he never quit being a member of the 16 SOS, as he became a civilian contractor with the squadron immediately after leaving the Air Force as a chief master sergeant.

Wilkins has flown on gunships for nearly 41 years and performed numerous jobs on the aircraft along the way — each giving him more understanding. During the aircraft modifications that created the current H-model, he served as a test director and picked the brains of the aircraft engineers to learn the inside and outs of the gunship. This is knowledge Wilkins now passes down as an instructor to other airmen within the 16 SOS.

"He is the H-model," said Master Sgt. Susanne Parker, 27th Special Operations Group superintendent and 16 SOS sensor operator. "That gunship isn't the same without him. He's the heartbeat of the squadron. No matter who's at the 16 SOS, with all the changeover and different faces, he's there to keep that continuity going and that spirit alive. He's dedicated to the point that's hard to understand or even imagine."

Parker explained that maintaining the AC-130H Spectre would be difficult without Wilkins.

"The aircraft are old and they all have their own quirks — each is different," she said. "He knows that. He knows anything and everything about the airplane, the systems, and even when we add new things he knows how they integrate together and how to troubleshoot them. I bet he could build a gunship if he wanted to. That's how good he is. Without that, our squadron wouldn't be able to function at this level."