About The Author
Robert W. Thydean
Upon completing my military obligations, I returned to Northern Minnesota for a few months to drive logging trucks and fall timber in an effort to make a living, as there weren’t many aviation jobs available at the time.
I later returned to aviation, retiring after 50 years in the industry, including fighting fires, seismic work, drilling operations, EMS, long lining, and management. My roles ranged from Chief Pilot and FAA Check Airman to Vice President of Operations and President.
My civilian flying experience includes more than 1,200 flight hours in Laos during 1973, as well as operations in Indonesia and West Irian Jaya, where four others and I were captured by cannibals. I also repossessed aircraft out of Mexico, survived a mid-air collision while flying with night vision goggles during an experimental Forest Service night program that lasted three years, and experienced four engine failures while accumulating over 8,000 flight hours.
I managed foreign operations in Yemen, South America, including Bolivia and Peru, and the Mediterranean Sea. I was the first Program Manager of a Civilian Air Detachment for Military Sealift Command, supporting Naval VERTREP fleet operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Afghan wars. These missions involved airlifting supplies to more than 110 U.S. and foreign vessels between 2000 and 2003. I also established and managed the VERTREP program in Guam from 2007 to 2008.
