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Out of Service
After serving three years in the United States Air Force as the first certified women jet engine mechanic at March A.F.B., if not the whole air force, Senior Airman Shane is hand cuffed, arrested and taken to the north end of the base where no one ever goes.
The story begins on June 20, 1975, at Lackland AFB, TX. , when Shane, only seventeen, starts her first day of basic training. Little does she know her life will become a series of challenges and compromise.
After practically acing Jet Engine Technical School, she arrives at her permanent party base bravely facing the insurmountable adversity of a woman in man’s world; the jet shop. It isn’t until the unexpected help of one black man does she learn the true essence of being a jet engine mechanic, what military protocol really is, and what trust, fairness and friendship can be.
She also meets a woman that will change her life forever, as her coming of age turns bittersweet, she learns what loving and losing can bring, what life and death offers, and how justice is served at her court martial…
The story begins on June 20, 1975, at Lackland AFB, TX. , when Shane, only seventeen, starts her first day of basic training. Little does she know her life will become a series of challenges and compromise.
After practically acing Jet Engine Technical School, she arrives at her permanent party base bravely facing the insurmountable adversity of a woman in man’s world; the jet shop. It isn’t until the unexpected help of one black man does she learn the true essence of being a jet engine mechanic, what military protocol really is, and what trust, fairness and friendship can be.
She also meets a woman that will change her life forever, as her coming of age turns bittersweet, she learns what loving and losing can bring, what life and death offers, and how justice is served at her court martial…
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 27, 2018
Must read!
This true story had me from the first page. I ran the gambit of emotions. More people need to know this woman’s story. The author tells this story with heart and bravery. You feel her innocence slip away, replaced by hard reality but tempered with friendship and loyalty of sisterhood.
This true story had me from the first page. I ran the gambit of emotions. More people need to know this woman’s story. The author tells this story with heart and bravery. You feel her innocence slip away, replaced by hard reality but tempered with friendship and loyalty of sisterhood.
October 29, 2018
Great read
The true story of how the military let go of an amazing soldier because of her sexuality. Such a disgrace that the military has power of what goes on in personal life to cast judgement.
The true story of how the military let go of an amazing soldier because of her sexuality. Such a disgrace that the military has power of what goes on in personal life to cast judgement.
March 24, 2016
Out Of Service
Shane Mcgarrett
Out Of Service is a well written memoir about the late 1970s and the first woman jet engine mechanic in the United States Air Force. It reads like one of Mary Karr’s memoirs.
It was a time when women broke down many barriers like those, which are sometimes taken for granted today. Nobody thinks twice about women cops or fire fighters or mechanics now, but only a few years ago they were seen as shocking and threatening. It is also a story about being gay in the military and being separated from the service as a result. There are too many even now who are shocked and threatened by another person’s sexual orientation, and like Shane Mcgarrett would shun them and take away their human rights. The United States only overturned the “Don’t Ask, Don't Tell” policy in the US military in 2010.
Being something like a jet engine mechanic is not something somebody learns, it is a calling of sorts. (Ms. Mcharrett went to a career in aerospace.) The author tells this story her life and the loss of her career in the USAF because of her sexuality without bitterness or rancor, there are none of those in this book, nor sadness either. Neither is there an overt strident call-to-arms for a cause, rather it is a telling. The reader keeps turning the pages to find out what happens next—one of those books. I started the book in the morning and finished on the same day.
I bought the book from the author at a library author’s event at a Southern California library and when she told me her story I thought it would be a good book. I was right. It was the only book I bought there that day.
Shane Mcgarrett
Out Of Service is a well written memoir about the late 1970s and the first woman jet engine mechanic in the United States Air Force. It reads like one of Mary Karr’s memoirs.
It was a time when women broke down many barriers like those, which are sometimes taken for granted today. Nobody thinks twice about women cops or fire fighters or mechanics now, but only a few years ago they were seen as shocking and threatening. It is also a story about being gay in the military and being separated from the service as a result. There are too many even now who are shocked and threatened by another person’s sexual orientation, and like Shane Mcgarrett would shun them and take away their human rights. The United States only overturned the “Don’t Ask, Don't Tell” policy in the US military in 2010.
Being something like a jet engine mechanic is not something somebody learns, it is a calling of sorts. (Ms. Mcharrett went to a career in aerospace.) The author tells this story her life and the loss of her career in the USAF because of her sexuality without bitterness or rancor, there are none of those in this book, nor sadness either. Neither is there an overt strident call-to-arms for a cause, rather it is a telling. The reader keeps turning the pages to find out what happens next—one of those books. I started the book in the morning and finished on the same day.
I bought the book from the author at a library author’s event at a Southern California library and when she told me her story I thought it would be a good book. I was right. It was the only book I bought there that day.
July 4, 2014
Shane McGarrett's unique story unwinds in her progression from naïve young girl to stalwart professional Air Force jet mechanic. She lives a strong life among peers and a degree of secrecy. What she had seen as her salvage from a harshly isolated childhood became yet another abusive life. In the 1970's the "don't ask, don't tell" banner was yet to be hung to hide gays in the military. Instead, an underground fostered identity, support and a lifestyle within the confines of prejudice and bias. In McGarrett's case, being outed brought on physical abuse and more isolation. With incredible strength of character, help from a landmark Supreme Court decision and a wily attorney, McGarrett escapes court martial to go on and live a life of freedom.
Shane McGarrett's incredible life story demands a wide readership by people from all walks of life. The writing is crisp, full of underplayed drama with eloquently drawn characters.
Shane McGarrett's incredible life story demands a wide readership by people from all walks of life. The writing is crisp, full of underplayed drama with eloquently drawn characters.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews