Page 10 - February 2015 Volume 9, Number 2

with, whether it’s the loss of a leg or the real desire to get back to military service,” said Hise, a Vietnam veteran. “They’ve got their whole lives to deal with this and we help them for a couple of hours. It’s such an honor to fly these guys.”
Hise is president of CEMCO Inc., a New Mexico-based family business that makes vertical shaft impact crushers to crush materials for recycling and energy production among other uses. Many of his VAC flights involve the military hospital in San Antonio or the western part of the country. In addition to signing up for missions posted on veteransairlift.org, he will let VAC know when he’s on a business trip with room for passengers.
The wounded have a better chance to heal when their spirits are lifted by family, a lesson Fricke learned the hard way: he spent most of six months in the hospital 700 miles away from family after he was injured in 1968 while serving
in the Vietnam War.
This is Hise’s first King Air; he purchased the 1996 King Air C90SE new from the factory and has accumu- lated 2,900 hours in it. “I consider myself to be one of
8 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
Left to right: Breg Hughes with son Brogan, VAC Pilot Neil Hise, Allison Hughes with son Gavin, and Neil’s wife Ty Juana G. and daughter Jennifer at Montgomery Field Airport in San Diego. Breg was burned over 50 percent of his body by a roadside bomb while serving as a commander in the U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan in 2012. Both Hise and King Air pilot Jim Harris have flown the Hughes family.
the luckiest guys in the world to own a King Air,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful business tool; it’s very professional; it’s a great airplane to fly; it’s just a sweet airplane.”
Much of CEMCO’s work is in the mining industry, and the C90SE gets Hise to aggregate mines and processing plants in remote locations. “My King Air is a magic carpet; it gets me into small fields,” Hise said.
That means Hise can get VAC passengers pretty close to their hometowns no matter the size. He has flown 22 missions for VAC, including three last year, and has a photo with most of the soldiers he’s transported. The photos hang on the main office wall, inviting visitors to learn more about the costs of war and what can be done to help.
Army Ranger MSG Cedric King thanking Founder Walt Fricke after a VAC flight. (PHOTO CREDIT: MAX HAYNES)
FEBRUARY 2015