Mark J. Ruhling

Mark Ruhling enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force for Navigator training on March 2, 1962, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and awarded his Navigator wings at James Connally AFB, Texas, on July 23, 1963. Lieutenant Ruhling next attended Navigator/Bombardier training at Mather AFB, California, from August 1963 to May 1964, followed by Advanced Survival Training, Navigator-Bombardier Upgrade Training, and B-52 Stratofortress Combat Crew Training at Castle AFB, California, from May to October 1964. His first assignment was as a B-52 Navigator with the 6th Bomb Squadron at Clinton Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, from October 1964 to May 1967, and he then attended Navigator Reconnaissance Upgrade training from July to September 1967. Captain Ruhling attended RF-4C Phantom II Tactical Reconnaissance Upgrade training from September 1967 to April 1968, and then deployed to Thailand in May 1968, where he served as an RF-4C Reconnaissance Systems Operator with the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Udorn Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from June 1968 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on November 23, 1968.