GILLHOUSE’S ADVICE ‘You only lose if you choose to quit’

“I’m what most Southerners would refer to as a D*** Yankee,” said Army CW4 (Ret.) James “Jim” Gillhouse. “I’m not from here, the military transported me here and I chose to stay.”

Gillhouse first came to Fort Rucker in 1978 as a OH-58 Kiowa crew chief and his Military Occupational Specialty code (MOS code) was 67V.

He returned from 1981-1982 to attend flight school at Fort Rucker after a tour of Germany.

“I was talking to some of the NCOs (non-commissioned officers) that were over me at the time and they said, ‘Hey, go do your first tour as an enlisted man and learn what the maintenance aspect of everything is all about and you can apply for flight school at any time,’” Gillhouse said. “That was really valuable advice for me because it allowed me to walk in the shoes of the soldiers that are working on our aircraft to know and understand what their jobs were.”

After another tour of Germany, Gillhouse, again, returned to Fort Rucker in the 1985-1986 timeframe as an instructor pilot.

Gillhouse is rated in the OH-58A, OH-58C, UH-60 Blackhawk and TH-67 Creek helicopters.

He said his favorite helicopters are the A and C model scout helicopters.

“It’s the ideal platform for an adrenaline junkie, in my opinion,” Gillhouse said. “All aircraft—to really be able to fly them—you have to become an extension of the aircraft or the aircraft has to become an extension of you.”

It was also about this time that his mother and step-father moved to the Fort Rucker area to be closer to his kids.

Gillhouse was part of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm from December 1990 through July 1991 with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion 227th Aviation Regiment.

“The unit I went to combat with was probably the best unit I’ve ever been assigned to in the entire time I was on active duty,” Gillhouse said. “It was an interesting time. We were there to see all the oil wells on fire and a lot of the death and carnage on the road out of Kuwait City. I’ll never forget the smell of all that carnage.”

After returning from the operation, Gillhouse would continue to be an instructor.

“As a Warrant Officer, you’re in a unique position to train both NCOs and commissioned officers—if they’ll listen to you,” Gillhouse said. “What it really boils down to is developing enough tact to where you can inspire great ideas in people—where they have this epiphany—and they think the seeds you planted with them are their own, brilliant idea.”

Gillhouse would spend the last year of service as a teacher at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Here he taught as a level one instructor and coached classes such as physical fitness methods, unarmed combat and self-defense, volleyball and racquetball.

“At that time, I was to the best of my knowledge, the only Army Warrant Officer to ever be a fully accredited faculty member at the Air Force Academy,” Gillhouse. “I like to believe that my military career prepared me for that job at the Air Force Academy where I got to touch the lives of a lot of young cadets to go on and be leaders.”

Gillhouse said one of his proudest moments in his military career came from his time at the Air Force Academy. One year, he had the entire men’s varsity football team spread throughout his classes, and they presented him with a gift for his service as a teacher.

“That football with the plaque and the stand on it was probably one of the highlights of my military career because it gave me the ability to take an entire squad of young men and make an impact in their lives for the rest of their lives,” Gillhouse said. “It was all based on that they were hungry, they were dedicated and they wanted as much as I could give them. They were sponges, just looking to soak up that knowledge.”

He would retire at the end his year of teaching in 1998 out of Fort Carson in Colorado. He then moved back down to the Enterprise area to be near his mother since his step-dad’s health was failing.

In 2002, Gillhouse started as a contracted pilot instructor at Fort Rucker. He would work there until 2012, and by the end of everything, he would fly over 12,000 hours.

“I stopped counting once I reached 12,000,” Gillhouse said.

There was one piece of advice that he believed was the most important thing he taught his students.

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” Gillhouse said. “That comes from the standpoint, always show up prepared. As the saying goes, ‘Chance favors the prepared mind.’”

Gillhouse is now the Alabama chapter president and national secretary for the Infidels Motorcycle Club. The first sentence of the club’s mission statement is “Infidels Motorcycle Club is a veteran formed and based MC for Patriotic Americans and our supporting allies.”

Throughout everything, Gillhouse still follows the philosophy of his father.

“We can all give great advice, but taking it when we’re emotional attached to the outcome is another story,” Gillhouse said. “You only lose if you choose to quit.”