Correspondent photo / John D. Bagnola Debbie Bussinger, 65, a 1977 graduate of Champion High School, served four years in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft avionics technician. She is the director at the MAPS (Military Aviation Preservation Society) Air Museum near Canton after doing an internship and volunteering there.

CHAMPION — Debbie Bussinger enlisted in the Air Force in 1976 and was deployed in 1977 following her Champion High School graduation.

As an aircraft avionics technician, her duties included working on aircraft flight control components, such as gyros, actuators and amplifiers, and instruments pulled from the cockpit. These vital components provided electronic signals and hydraulic fluid to the flight controls and navigational information to the pilot about the flight situation of the aircraft, such as altitude, airspeed, heading, and navigational and communication equipment.

“It all began one afternoon when military recruiters were invited to Champion High School. I was really interested in computers back then. Of course, they were antiquated compared to today’s standards. Reading some of the job descriptions at the Air Force and Navy booths, I found a list of duties and responsibilities that, I thought, included computers. But I needed to know more,” Bussinger said.

Her father, an Army Reserve veteran, accompanied her to the recruiter.

“After I completed the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, they provided me with a list of positions. They were pursuing individuals interested in learning the repair and maintenance of the aircraft,” she said.

If she joined, they offered her a guaranteed job on the spot. She enlisted in 1976 but would have to wait six months to be deployed until after graduation. Her title would then become an Automated Flight Control Systems Specialist.

Basic training in 1977 was not difficult for Bussinger. Her father, Tom, owned a Sohio Gas Station, an auto repair shop and was also a jack-of-all-trades.

“Since I was older than my little brother, I had the dubious honor of helping my father with adjusting timing belts on cars, or roofing, and even plumbing and electrical work,” she said.

She really enjoyed working with her hands and her father appreciated her determination to learn new challenges. She was also physically fit from running track in high school and playing softball in summer leagues.

Following basic training, she was sent to avionics technical school at Chanute Air Force Base in Champaign County, Rantoul, Illinois. She remembers marching to class every day in 2 to 4 feet of snow that year. This facility’s primary mission was Air Force technical training. After technical training, she was sent to England Air Force Base in Louisiana where she was assigned to a flight line.

This base included training for pilots and crew to fly A-7D aircraft and for aircraft maintenance as part of the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing, 74th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Bussinger pointed out that even though the base was predominantly men, there was always at least one woman in each specialized maintenance position on the flight line. There, she became affluent in the repair and maintenance of the autopilot on the A-7D aircraft.

Later on, she worked on A-10 aircraft at RAF Bentwaters, England, on autopilot instrument component repairs with Squadron 81st CRS.

“Even though it was not wartime, any repairs had to be rectified very quickly. This was preparedness in case of war,” Bussinger said.

Following Bussinger’s four-year tour of duty, she used her GI Bill to achieve a two-year Electrical Engineering Technology Degree at Kent State University at Trumbull. Because of military experience in computer electronics and her college degree, she landed a job at Goodyear Aerospace.

She was the only woman technician in the lab, testing components for numerous military contracts such as the Tomahawk Cruise Missile and ASPRO, an airborne associative processor used for radar surveillance in the E-2C aircraft and served as the GIDEP. (Government Industry Exchange Program) This position was a requirement for companies that had military contracts.

It was during her 27-year tenure at McMaster-Carr Supply in Aurora when she earned her four-year degree and master’s degree in Library Science with a museum studies concentration.

In 2012, during graduate school, Bussinger discovered an opportunity for an internship at the MAPS (Military Aviation Preservation Society) Air Museum. This museum is a nonprofit organization that includes more than 50 vintage aircraft, and a library of more than 10,000 books, magazines and videos ranging from the Civil War to today. The museum’s library maintains and preserves institutional records and collects and makes images, literature, manuscripts, memoirs, diaries, books, and oral histories related to all branches of the military.

Her supervisor, Barbara Johnston, the head librarian, got her interested in all aspects of the museum.

“Following my internship, I decided this is exactly where I want to be. So I became a part-time volunteer. At that time, I was still working full-time at McMaster-Carr. It’s exciting, rewarding, and it has the exact aircraft I worked on while in the service.” she said.

While working on archiving books, she discovered some DVDs and VHS tapes. On these tapes were personal documentaries of military personnel. Even though she was not privy to the preservation of these memories on tape of past military vets, she was anxious to learn.

And because of her enthusiasm and determination, Bussinger has now developed a section in the library for that very purpose. She quickly learned the basic camera functions along with the principles of lighting and sound. She has now captured more than 100 veterans’ stories on tape and they are logged in the MAPS library. She now has her sights set on purchasing a van, and converting it to include all of the amenities of a film production studio. Her travels will allow the convenience of interviewing retired military vets anywhere in the state for the purpose of preserving these remarkable stories.

After 12 years of volunteer service at the museum, Bussinger has been promoted to Museum Director, which includes responsibility for the 10,000 book library, membership enrollment, volunteer training, the exhibit displays and the audio video archiving.

Debbie Bussinger

AGE: 65

RESIDENCE: Champion

SERVICE BRANCH: Air Force

MILITARY HONORS: Good Conduct Medal

OCCUPATION: Director at the MAPS Air Museum in Green. Previously, she was a Goodyear Aerospace cruise missile technician and worked at McMaster-Carr Supply Co. in Aurora

FAMILY: one daughter and one son