Tunnel 9's Ray Schlegel loves to ride

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  Ray Schlegel, who began his career at Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9, White Oak, Md., as a co-op student in 1981, has loved motorcycles since he was young.

"I've known how to ride a motorcycle since I was about 12 years old and I've always wanted one," said Schlegel, who is now Tunnel 9's senior electronics technician. "Of course with a family growing up over the years, I never had the money to buy one. Now that my kids are grown and out of the house, I finally bought one when I turned 54."

Schlegel's interest in motorcycles and riding goes beyond his joy in hitting the open road with his friends over a weekend or vacation.

Growing up during the Vietnam War era, he saw how many of those veterans were not respected at the time. More recently, Schlegel's daughter, Sgt. Allison Schlegel, Maryland Army National Guard, 58th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, served in Iraq from April 2007 through April 2008. Now, the situation was personal.

"It was basically the Westboro Baptist church, I had heard about them and saw what they were doing," he said. "If something had happened to my daughter I wouldn't want them anywhere near her."

So Schlegel joined the Patriot Guard in 2008.

"We're just a barrier between the family and anybody who wants to interfere," he said. "Mostly they don't show up a lot. I have been there when they've been there twice and I've done more than 50 of these now."

Schlegel said he attends the funerals regardless of whether protesters show up for them.

"Mostly it's just...when you shake hands with the family after the funeral and you give them a hug, shed a little tear with them; it just touches your heart," he said. "It's not about me, it's about the families."

Schlegel, who has been a member of the local Old Glory Harley-Davidson HOG chapter since 2007, also enjoys taking his Harley Davidson "Fatboy" on the road to enjoy the ride, scenery and shared adventure with his friends.

He recently made a 3,000-plus mile trek on his motorcycle from White Oak to New Orleans and back with 15 other cyclists.

"This was a pleasure trip with my Old Glory Harley-Davidson HOG chapter," Schlegel said. "It started out at the local Harley Davidson dealer where I belong to that chapter. [We] drove to Danville, Va., [on the] first day, second day drove to Asheville N.C., drove about 300 miles in the Smokies over to the Tennessee side in Etowah, drove some more mileage through the Smokies, drove down to Leeds, Ala., and from there [drove] to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. This guy [George Barber] has one of every motorcycle since the beginning of time, it's really quite impressive."

Schlegel's involvement with motorcycles is a balance between fun and his commitment to supporting the troops.

"The weekend before I went on this trip, I was at Walter Reed where our Maryland chapter of the Patriot Guard was putting on a picnic for them," he said. "I delivered the food up [to] the wounded warrior ward at Walter Reed. "Talking to those guys, giving them a little boost is all you can do for them. And even the doctors and nurses there; they have to deal with that every day."

Schlegel's interest and commitment to America's military service members was strongly influenced by his father, Walter Schlegel, a Navy machinist mate who "served in all theaters during World War II."

Schlegel said, "From 1946 to 1968 my father was in the Naval Reserve, taught steam engineering at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., before transferring to aviation. [He was] called up during the Cuban Missile Crisis; he was an aviation machinist mate, a chief petty officer. He also worked as a civilian at the National Institute of Health as a mechanical engineering technician and branch head."

Schlegel enjoys working at Tunnel 9 and spending time on his motorcycle, whether it's a road trip or supporting veterans.

Regarding his recent 3,000-plus trip, he said, "I had a good time, the friends I rode with, they're very good people, a lot of ex-military, policemen and current military."