Airman wears different uniform off duty

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Paul Duquette
  • 163d Reconnaissance Wing
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Driving a race car is something almost everyone dreams about when they're a kid, but they usually grow up to do something else. Well for 163d Reconnaissance Wing (RW) member, race car driver, driving instructor and Aircraft Crew Chief Tech. Sgt. Chris Stout that dream became a reality six years ago when he attended his first "Open Track Day" at the California Speedway.

As a traditional guardsman, Sergeant Stout has been with the 163d RW for two years, before that he was with the 222nd Combat Communications Squadron, Costa Mesa, Calif. for 14 years. Militarily, Sergeant Stout has gone from being a Crew Chief to a Vehicle Mechanic then back to Crew Chief. His first airframe was the F-15 "Strike Eagle," since then he transitioned through several aircraft, finally making his way to the MQ-1 "Predator."

"As a kid, it seemed like my brother and I spent every Sunday night at the race track with my step-dad," said Sergeant Stout, "My step-dad was a crew chief in the pits, so he got to work on all kinds of cars."

Currently, Sergeant Stout spends most of his time studying Career Development Course (CDC) books and is awaiting a training school date for Predator maintenance. Once he is fully trained, his job will entail launch and recovery; pre-flights; post-flights; functional systems maintenance; records maintenance and other general aircraft maintenance.

"I always wanted to race on a road course, so one day I just did it and I got hooked," said Sergeant Stout. "When you get in the car, you leave financial issues or daily worries behind. Your mind focuses on you and the car."

Shortly after Sergeant Stout began racing, he started entering in race challenges and events. Eventually, he won one of five cars given by a performance parts company, along with $10,000 dollars worth of parts and a one year sponsorship contract.
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During Sergeant Stout's racing career, he has driven at tracks and speedways all over California and met several key people which led him to his current civilian job as a driving instructor at the Barber Driving Experience.

"As an instructor, I take the student's high-performance-cars and teach them how to drive it like a race car," said Sergeant Stout, "Being an instructor, I see all kinds of exotic cars but my favorite car that I've driven, so far, has to be the Mustang GT Shelby."

One could say that Sergeant Stout constantly displays the necessary focus and determination to accomplish whatever he does, whether he's competing against 15 other cars on the race track, instructing a student how to maneuver their car through a tight corner or performing regular maintenance on an aircraft.