Sad loss in the PJ community

[SarDragon]

Posted by request:

It is with a heavy heart I report the death of William (Bill) Burton. He was a excellent survival man, a good friend, and a joy to know. It was my honor to serve with him.  Many people know Bill as "MSgt Burton" from PJOC.  Bill did most of the PJOCs during late 80's and early 90's.  He will be missed by me, the SERE community and the PJ community.  He was a great friend to me and we spent many a nights on the trail together.  May the only fire he find where he is going to be a campfire that he can sit and tell war stories at.  He was a great man.

George R. Miller III, MSgt, USAF(Ret)
Pararescueman
Still Living the Motto: "These Things We Do, So That Others May Live"



William Burton

William "Bill" Burton, born February 2, 1953 to Walter and Ruth Burton, entered rest on Monday October 15, 2012 at the age of 59. Bill served his country honorably in the United States Air Force until his retirement in 1996. He then worked in civil service until his death. He was an avid fan of the Texas Longhorns and loved golfing. He was preceded in death by his father, Walter Burton and sister Helen Burton. Bill is survived by his son, William Burton, Jr. and wife Karen; daughter, Kim Burton; grandchildren, Kurtis, Zack, Greiye, Sienna and baby on the way; fiancé and best friend, Leona Turek; mother, Ruth Burton; brother, Wally Burton and wife Beverly; sister, Debby Blanks. Bill is also survived by his former wife and mother of his children, Brenda Bollier and numerous other relatives and friends. Visitation will be held on Sunday, October 21, 2012, 2012, from 12:00pm to 2:00pm at Sunset Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Highway, San Antonio, TX 78218. Funeral Service will follow the visitation at 2:00pm. Interment of cremated remains will be at Fort Sam Houston at a later date. You are invited to offer condolences at http://www.sunsetfuneralhomesa.com

[A.Member]

Godspeed, MSgt!

[Garibaldi]

Wonder how many of our cadets were taught by him at PJOC. Sounds like an awesome man.

[GroundHawg]

Wonder how many of our cadets were taught by him at PJOC. Sounds like an awesome man.

I was one. I made the mistake of showing up at PJOC with an A&M hat on.... it was a loooong week.

[ol'fido]

Was he a PJ or a SERE Instructor or did he do both? I would like to see a more extensive bio if anyone has one? Sounds like a real interesting individual. I always wondered how much interaction there was between the PJ community and the SERE community.

Godspeed, sir, and whisper some sage advice in our ear every now and them. :angel:

[A.Member]

Was he a PJ or a SERE Instructor or did he do both? I would like to see a more extensive bio if anyone has one? Sounds like a real interesting individual. I always wondered how much interaction there was between the PJ community and the SERE community...

Off topic:  They are two very seperate career fields.  In a nutshell, they now work under one umbrella structure to create the Guardian Angel Weapon System (GAWS) dedicated to Personnel Recovery (PR).  GA squadrons are relatively new (early 2000's) and results in much closer interaction between the two.  All of this, however, predates MSgt Burton; he was a PJ. 

[SarDragon]

Additional info:

A little history about MSgt Bill Burton; he was not a Pararescueman (PJ), he was a Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion Specialist/Instructor – SERE and proud to be one.  His last assignment was at the USAF Pararescue School at Kirtland AFB where he worked for more than ten years.  He was responsible for teaching a whole generation of Pararescuemen. 

He was offered the chance (a couple of times) to become a Pararescueman; but knew that being SERE was what he was.  He was ahead of his time for now SERE, PJ and Combat Rescue Officers (CRO) combine to make up what the US Air Force calls the Guardian Angel Weapon System.

GUARDIAN ANGEL (GA) is an Air Force non-aircraft weapon system program within the overarching Battlefield Airmen Modernization program. GA is a Family of Systems based in both human and equipment capabilities formulated to execute Air Force Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) and Personnel Recovery (PR) across the full spectrum of military operations.  Established by the Air Force Chief of Staff in 2003 and officially captured in AFPD 10-9, the GA FoS is employed by three distinct Air Force specialties: Pararescuemen (PJ), Survival-Evasion-Resistance-Escape (SERE), and Combat Rescue Officer (CRO). The GA program will standardize and modernize mission essential equipment utilized in extrication, surface/underwater search and recovery, airborne infil/exfil, and ground recovery operations.

While at the Pararescue School he worked mainly in the Ground Operations/Tactics phases of Pararescue training, but assisted in every aspect of training.  He also was the Director of Training for the whole Pararescue School at the end of his career. 

Besides the Pararescue School Bill had some other interesting assignments to include being on the team that did the initial debriefs for the returning POW from the Viet Nam War at Clark Airbase Philippines and being the NCOIC of the SERE Instructor Selection Course at Lackland AFB, TX.

In the late 1980's and early 1990's Bill was one of the primary instructors and driving forces behind the Pararescue Orientation Courses.  I believe that he had to of worked with between 800 and 1,000 Civil Air Patrol Cadets during that time.  His summers were PJOC.  Starting with the course at Kirtland AFB and then loading up his pickup truck and heading east for the PJOC at Ft. Knox KY and in the one in the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia. 

George R. Miller III, MSgt, USAF(Ret)
Pararescueman
Still Living the Motto: "These Things We Do, So That Others May Live"

[Garibaldi]

In their lives, who can honestly say they've touched THAT MANY lives in a positive way?  :clap:

[ol'fido]

Thanks, Dave, for the additional information. I was aware of the current Guardian Angel program, but I was wandering what crossover there may have been before that. I guess my real interest was in the early years of the SERE program in the USAF other than school locations and designations, and how the early SERE guys worked with the operational side of the AF as opposed to the training end.

It sounds like MSgt Burton was one of the real old school SERE types who had earned the respect not only of the SERE and PJ communities but CAP as well. I would like to have known him.