Robbins, Kathleen Oral History

Robbins_Kathleen_06132005 edited

Kathleen Robbins (Maiden name Nice) was born Jun 1946 in Oak Park, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Her father was a WWII Navy pilot and mother was a medical technologist. She had two younger sisters. She remembers moving quite a bit as a kid. Eventually graduating High School in Tampa, FL. Kathleen attended the Air Force Academy from 1964 to 1968. She remembered having to adjust to the high altitude in Colorado Springs and the hazing of the upperclassman. When she entered, she remembered she was asked about sexual orientation as part of screening and that gay relationships were not talked about among classmates. She served until July 1975. She was initially stationed at Mather AFB, Sacramento, CA for undergraduate nav training, graduating 1st in his class, which allowed her to volunteer for the C-130. Thought she was in Vietnam to really make a difference to the people of Vietnam. She flew into Clark, AFB Philippines in Sept 1968 to fly training missions and do air drop qualifications as part of the 463rd air wing. From there, her main responsibilities were flying out KIA and wounded from in-country. She also helped Que Son resupply by air when the N. Vietnamese had surrounded the US troops. Later, as she gained more experience, she flew missions that dropped bombs and Daisy Cutters. She married 6 months after leaving the Air Force Academy and was always worried about being captured and tortured. When her son was born in the Philippines, she become more concerned about dying and her feelings of invincibility started to disappear. As she talked to the Army personnel, she become more and more disillusioned with the war. After 2 years at Clark AFB, Philippines, she then spent 2 years at Cam Ranh BAY AFB in the Republic of Vietnam. After that, she went back to Maher AFB, CA for 4 more years to teach Nav school. Her highest rank was Captain. Her service span was during most of the Vietnam War. She elected to resign because of her wife no longer liking the long separation of the Air Force and the stress of a potential gender identification reveal. After the service, she earned a master degree and a doctorate. From an early age, she knew that she was different and felt that she had to keep her gender identification a secret. This placed a lot of stress on her while in the military. When she left the military, she worked with a therapist and eventually elected to get a sex change operation from male to female in 1990.