General brings Air Force story back home

Published July 12, 2007
By Tech. Sgt. Phyllis Hanson
Air Force News Agency

ST. LOUIS (AFPN) -- A once-young usher who worked at Busch Stadium, home of the World Series multi-champion Cardinals, is now a man who now ushers in technologies which go way out of the ballpark.

Nearly 40 years after his days of ushering people to the stands at Busch Stadium, Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Deppe, the 20th Air Force Air Force commander at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., returned to the ballpark July 8 to throw out the "first pitch" during the Cardinals vs. (San Francisco) Giants' game. It was part of the Air Force Week St. Louis festivities.

"It was a very exciting day," said the lifelong Cardinals fan who grew up in St. Louis. "I would never have imagined this."

The soon-to-be Air Force Space Command vice commander stood high up on the pitchers' mound in front of a 44,500-plus crowd and fired a "very near" strike.

Ending a celebration of Air Force Week St. Louis, General Deppe went back to his roots to share some good words about the Air Force. More than 100 ballpark ushers were on their feet when the general "popped in for a visit." After a round of applause, General Deppe encouraged the group.

"You can be whatever you want to be," the general said. "It doesn't matter what you do now, it's what you make of yourself."

General Deppe joined the Air Force in 1967 during Vietnam, and at first he thought it might just help him earn a degree. They had just started the all-volunteer program.

"Road guards out!" was the phrase that strengthened the once-enlisted Airman who used to do just what he was told to do.

"Nothing more, nothing less," he said.

So after turning down the chance to be a leader in his basic training squadron, he was assigned to run to each street crossing to stop traffic. That experience changed his mind about being a leader.

What he learned at the various leadership schools he attended was the meaning behind defending, supporting and being proud of your country, he said.

"There are opportunities for everyone," he said.

"Here I am 40 years later, almost to the date and I'm throwing a baseball for my home team!"

As his time in the Air Force progressed, he developed a deep love for the service as missile maintainer, a recruiter and, many years later, a space commander.

After going to Airman Leadership School, he says that he was "enlightened."
He wanted to be a leader.

"You have to want to be a leader," he said.

He wanted to mentor others.

"The careers in the Air Force, the opportunities, when you join for the right reasons, are there for everyone."

Back in 1976, when he was a recruiter, General Deppe met with a recruit who is still a close friend of his. The general was a staff sergeant at the time and ran across a 22-year-old recruit who trudged into his office one day asking "What happens if I win the lottery while I'm on delayed enlistment and then decide not to show up on departure day?"

"All recruiters from the Services, including the Air Force, told me I'd go to prison and my life would be ruined," said Gary Pomeroy, a retired Air Force master sergeant who works in the congressional and public affairs office for the Air Force surgeon general in Washington. "I knew that to not be true. The all-volunteer force would rather you not show up instead of showing up reluctantly.

"One day I asked the question of a recruiter who turned out to be Staff Sgt. Deppe," Mr. Pomeroy said. "He basically told me that I would be an idiot to join after winning the lottery. It was a straightforward, honest answer. On the spot I introduced myself and told him he was my recruiter and we've been friends ever since.

"I hope that I have mentored people along the way," General Deppe said. "I believe that people can be as successful as they can possibly want to be."