WELLINGTON, Kan. (KSNW) — Bradley “Bubs” Bryant grew up in Wichita. He graduated from Wichita West High School, joined the Air Force, and served in the Wichita Police Department for over three decades.
Bryant says he really had no desire to join the military. He was at a drive-in movie with his girlfriend when he realized his draft number was up next in the lottery. So, instead of waiting for a call and being told to report, Bryant took matters into his own hands.
“So, I went down to the Air Force recruiter and says, ‘Hey, I need to be in the Air Force, so what can you give me?’ ‘Well, we don’t have much to choose from. You can be a cop, a cook, or a medic.’ Well, needles scared me, so I didn’t want to be a medic. I thought about being a cook. Oh, I don’t think that’s what I want to do. So, I said, ‘I’ll take the cop,’ and here I am today,” said Bryant.
Bryant went through Air Force basic training and air policeman training before being sent to his first assignment at a small Air Force base in the mountains east of San Diego called Mount Laguna.