Local vet working on Air Force dual retirement
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NAME: Michael Rothwell
AGE:60
RESIDENCE: Canfield
SERVICE BRANCH: Air Force
MILITARY HONORS: Good Conduct medal, Air Force Achievement medal, Air Force Meritorious Service award
OCCUPATION: Air Reserve technician
FAMILY: wife, Connie Rothwell; children, Anna and Alexander
Local Air Force reservist Michael Rothwell is working on a dual retirement after serving the Air Force as a recruit, later as a reservist and a civilian contractor.
Rothwell was born in Youngstown and moved to Struthers when he became school age. He graduated from Struthers High School in 1984 and took a little break to help out his aunt by staying with her after her husband passed away.
In 1985, he made the decision to join the Air Force. He was bussed to Cleveland and left on a commercial airliner for Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) in Texas for basic training.
"We learned the Air Force ways, including military professionalism and how to eat really fast,” Rothwell said.
After six weeks at Lackland AFB, Rothwell received his first assignment to go to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was assigned the duty of 267 Aero Space Early Warning Systems.
"It was nicknamed Scope Dope," he said. "At Keesler, I learned to do my job as a Scope Dope."
In laymen's terms, it was learning radar systems and how to read them.
Following his radar training, he was sent to his first assignment at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas in January 1986.
"Talk about culture shock," he said. "As soon as I got off the plane all I could hear was the sound of slot machines."
He said they were in the airports, in stores and anywhere one could go in Vegas.
At Nellis, Rothwell got to see all sorts of Air Force flying machines. He said everything from fighter jets to cargo planes and any other air show aircraft were in and out of Nellis. He stayed at that base until October 1987, when he received his first foreign assignment.
"I was deployed to Wallace Air Station in the Philippines," he said. "I was assigned to a remote location to watch live radar and verify aircraft."
He said a lot of what his unit watched for were "Bears," a name given to large Russian bombers. He really didn't get to see the islands or towns in the Philippines because prior to arriving, two airmen were killed at nearby Clark AFB. That incident put all the bases on lockdown.
"We did have a small local beach we could go to and we were allowed to travel to Clark AFB on our days off," Rothwell said.
Clark AFB had a much larger base store than Wallace did.
Rothwell served one year at Wallace, then returned to the states and was assigned to Buckley AFB in Aurora, Colorado. The assignment brought a touch of home into his life as his older brother Herbert Rothwell was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver.
"I could visit him and his family," Rothwell said. "I got to see my nephews and could eat well because my brother's wife was a great cook."
At Buckley AFB, Rothwell's specialty became space communications. He monitored radar for everything from near to deep space and said this was long before Space Force was formed.
He got out of the Air Force in October 1989. He said it wasn't long before he realized he didn't know where his next meal was coming from, so he applied for and was hired in a civilian job tracking satellite launches at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado.
In his new position, he was sent to Roi-Namur Island, part of the Kwaj Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The radar unit he worked on was so large it was placed on rails and ties so it could move.
Rothwell left the islands and returned to Struthers in late 1993. In March of 1994, he went into the Air Force Reserve and was stationed at the 911th Air Wing in Pittsburgh. At that time, he got into HVAC and learned how to work on military heating and air conditioning units.
The Air Force Reserve was what Rothwell said is the weekend warriors of the Air Force. Reservists train one weekend each month and serve two weeks a year.
Rothwell worked his way up to E8 Senior Master Sergeant, which was the unit commander's right hand man. He served in that capacity until 2010.
To pay the bills, Rothwell got a civilian contract job at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, where he worked from Monday through Friday. Rothwell also married and had two sons.
He continued in the dual positions until 2021 when he officially retired from the Reserve. He remains in the civilian service position.
"I plan to retire from that position in the next five to six years," Rothwell said. "I will be paying for a wedding fore sure for one of my sons, but staying in the Civil Service is not a bad gig."
About eight years ago, Rothwell decided to join the national American Legion. After joining, local Post 177 Commander Mike Kubitza contacted him about transferring to the local post.
"I did just that and for the first few years I just sat back at meetings," he said. "A few years ago, I took on the First Vice President's position and as of June 2026, I became Adjutant."
He said the American Legion is an important organization and it needs more to join so it will continue to have a strong voice for veterans and their needs.