CAA: GA News, "New airport manager gets involved in community"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Saturday, February 8, 2003

New airport manager gets involved in community
BY SHAWN CLUBB
The Alton (IL) Telegraph


BETHALTO -- With rosy cheeks and a ready smile, David Miller does not give
the impression of a career military man.

"But I can show that side, too," asserts Miller, 59, the new manager of St.
Louis Regional Airport.

Describing himself as devout and patriotic, Miller reads from the Bible
daily and has attended a different church each Sunday since taking over as
airport manager on Jan. 1. He believes an airport manager should enjoy
participating in a local church and join a local service club and possibly
also a fraternal organization.

"Participation in the community is very important in this type of job," he
said.

Miller said he has trust in his staff, allowing him to focus on the airport'
s outward image and help it to become what it can be.

The airport has come under criticism previously from residents who don't
like the noise from air traffic, especially from the occasional practice
sessions for Boeing fighter jets. Other residents have expressed
dissatisfaction because the airport remains on the tax rolls. Miller said he
wants to interact and help improve the image, but he knows he can't win over
everyone.

"There's always some people that you will never be able to please, but just
because you can't please them doesn't mean you should ignore them," he said.
"That's been true of every community I've been in. It's not as simple as
saying, 'If you don't like it, move someplace else.' That's the wrong
answer."

Just a month into his duties, Miller already has started becoming part of
the community. He has joined the executive board of the Growth Association
of Southwestern Illinois, attended a meeting of the Illinois Public Airport
Association and gotten involved with the Bethalto Rotary. He has been a
member of Rotary in the last three communities in which he has worked.

He also plays the clarinet and wants to get involved with or start a
Dixieland group and maybe join the local orchestra. He is a ham radio
operator and wants to get involved with a local ham operators club.

With his wife, Cora, he enjoys cross-country skiing, hiking and camping.
Most of his career, military and civilian, has been spent in colder
climates.

Miller said this originated from growing up in the hot summers of Salina,
Kan., and wanting to find someplace cold. After graduating high school
there, he studied business administration at the University of Denver, but
then enlisted in the Air Force before he could be drafted, wanting to have
his choice of military service.

The recruiter had asked, "How would you like to fly jets?"

"The boyhood memories came flashing back," he said. "As you learn marketing
and management, boyhood dreams sound foolish."

As a boy, he had sat at the attic window of his parent's home. If he sat
facing one way, he was a fighter pilot. If he sat facing another way, he was
a bomber pilot.

In the Air Force, Miller first flew tankers to refuel aircraft in midair
over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He later flew B-52 bombers.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the flying," he said. "I enjoyed everything about the
Air Force."

By 1973, the war was winding down. The thought of leaving the Air Force to
"take off, fly straight and land" commercial airliners and spend a lot of
time away from home didn't appeal to Miller, so he stayed in the Air Force.

Miller moved on to perform aircraft maintenance functions at Ellsworth Air
Force Base, S.D., and Clark Air Base in the Philippines. He later served at
Minot Air Force Base, N.D., where he became chief of airfield management,
which he called "a real good training ground for airport management."

In 1988, federal legislation required the retirement of all military
personnel who were eligible to retire, so Miller found himself entering
civilian life.

"Had that not come about," he said, "I would probably have stayed with the
Air Force."

He worked a year as assistant director of Bishop International Airport,
Flint, Mich.; five years as airport director in Bismarck Municipal Airport,
Bismarck, N.D.; four years as airport manager at Juneau International
Airport, Juneau, Alaska; one year under contract managing the airport, ferry
and bus service in Ketchikan, Alaska; and one year as director of aviation
for two airports in Montrose, Colo.

Miller said he'd like to make St. Louis Regional Airport his final stop.

"This airport is as near a textbook-perfect airport as any airport I've ever
seen," said Miller, noting the infrastructure, security and equipment the
airport has. "My marching orders from the board are to take this
textbook-perfect airport and start using it for what an airport is for."

Attached Photo:

David Miller, standing in front of the mounted F-4 Phantom fighter jet and
tower at St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto, is the new airport manager.

miller.jpg