James McAnulty

Airman provided supplies to airplanes flying into Iraq.

By Natalya Bucuy, Correspondent


It’s Veteran’s Day 2010 and Lt. Colonel James McAnulty of the United State Air Force is looking through two large photo albums dedicated to the three and a half months of his life spent in the Middle East.

In January 1991 McAnulty, then a captain, left his quiet post as a supply officer at the Willow Grove Air Force base and headed to Thumrait Air Base in Oman. There he assisted the airmen who fought in the Persian Gulf War, providing supplies for the airplanes that flew into the battles of Iraq.

McAnulty’s entire unit was activated to leave for what became known as Operation Desert Storm. His duties on the base included overseeing the aircraft supplies and fuel operations. McAnulty recalls serving closely with active duty officers and airmen – working seven 12-hour days a week.

“We were in the fall-back position for the aircrafts,” he said. “Myself and the commanding officer went up to Saudi Arabia to do the fall back requirements in case we needed to get out of there. We did a study and put all that information together.”

McAnulty remembers his time at the base “not much different” from home. While the base was located in the desert, he says, everything else felt as if he never left home.

“People were different when we went into town,” he says. “Omani population is very small and they hire foreigners as their laborers – Indonesian, Pakistani, Chinese. But it wasn’t any different. You go downtown, certain places felt like I never left the States.”

Though his experiences in Oman were as close as he ever got to a hot spot, McAnulty’s military career began long before the war erupted. He joined the armed forces reserves in 1966, a few years after receiving his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from St. Joseph College. He spent two years in the Army reserves, but then switched to the Air Force. He later earned his master’s degree in public administration from Penn State University.

“I always liked the military,” he says. “As a little kid I played with airplanes. I just always liked it.”

Back at his home base in Willow Grove McAnulty maintained the supply chain for the base’s aircraft on the daily basis. Administrative work in various leadership positions took him up the ranks all the way up to lieutenant colonel, which he received in 2000 before retiring in 2001.
McAnulty’s 37-year-long career in the Air Force took him places he would never otherwise have visited. Every year he would leave for training oversees for two weeks.

“I enjoyed the military. It was great for me because of all the travel experiences,” he says. “I met so many different people. I loved it.”

And world travel, which for McAnulty included most of Europe, Hawaii, and much of the continental United States, wasn’t the only perk of serving in the reserves.

“Military teaches you to be organized, meet schedules, do things correctly the first time; otherwise it is life-threatening, if you don’t,” McAnulty says. “It teaches you confidence and leadership skills.”

Out of all he gained and learned, McAnulty names leadership as his favorite part of being in the military.

“Trying to shape these young kids into something that would be beneficial to themselves and to the military and also to see them come up through the ranks with their skills is great,” he says.

Now retired, McAnulty lives with his wife Maggie in Warwick. He is involved with his church, enjoys time at his shore house, and recently was voted to the Commander post of the American Legion Post 119 of Warwick. In his spare time McAnulty builds model railroads in his basement.
“No airplanes though,” he laughs.