Leader of Army’s mountain flying center leaves his dream job

EAG L E » Lt. Col. Anthony Somogyi, of the Colorado Army National Guard, hadn’t even flown a mission when he uncovered his dream assignment — the High Altitude Aviation Training Site at the Eagle County Regional Airport.

The age-old winning combination of hard work and good luck helped make Somogyi’s dream come true, and for the past 12 years he has proudly served at HAATS, first as executive officer and later as the site commander. This month, he officially retired after 20 years of military service during a ceremony that was bittersweet for Somogyi, his family by blood and his family by service.

Somogyi was only the fifth officer to command HAATS. “That is basically unheard of for a military unit,” he said.

But then, HAATS isn’t your average military assignment.

“I never got sick of flying in the training area, not once,” Somogyi said during his retirement ceremony. “But the thing I will miss the most is the soldiers. This place is what it is because of you.”

Somogyi is a Western Slope native who grew up in Palisade. “I wanted to fly helicopters since I was a little kid,” he said.

An early flight experience solidified that desire. He recalled one cold spring when Clark Orchards hired a helicopter to hover over a remote orchard to push down warmer air in an effort to save the peach crop. Somogyi’s dad wrangled a ride for his son, but timing was an issue — the helicopter flight would make him late for school.

“The pilot said, ‘I’ll just drop you off at school,’ ” Somogyi said. “I remember going into the office and saying, ‘I’m sorry I’m late. I just flew in.’ ”

Somogyi went on to attend Palisade High School, where he was a wrestler and where he met his wife, Korey. He was thinking about joining the U.S. Coast Guard, but he couldn’t get an aviation assignment guarantee. Eventually he attended the University of North Dakota on an ROTC/Air Battle Captain scholarship.

He was home on leave from college when he first heard about a helicopter training site at the Eagle County Regional Airport.

Somogyi was impressed and discouraged when he started looking into the opportunity — impressed with the operation and discouraged about the odds.

“My dad and I both thought there’s no way I would end up there,” Somogyi said.

But he did reach out to then-Cmdr. Joel Best to ask about an assignment.

“He wrote me back, and it was the same basic response I have had to send out to kids over the years,” Somogyi said.

Basically, Best told Somogyi thanks for the interest but warned him there weren’t many openings available at HAATS.

After college graduation, Somogyi was assigned to Fort Rucker in Alabama, and he and Korey were married. His next move was to Fort Hood in Texas, where he was a platoon leader. His next assignment took him across the globe.

Somogyi was deployed to Iraq in 2003. His deployment came just after U.S. troops had taken Baghdad.

“It was before car bombs were a big deal and IEDs were a big deal,” he said. “The rules of engagement were wide open. The flying was so demanding and it was so much fun.”

That deployment lasted eight months. After he returned home, he enrolled in his captain career courses, something he had put off twice but needed to complete to further his military career. Turns out, his timing was impeccable because shortly after he left Iraq, the military extended the deployment terms to 15 months.

That time in Iraq was exceptionally tough for the Somogyi family.

“While I was in Iraq, there were no internet satellites set up and there were no phones,” he said.

What’s more, there was a three-month delay in regular mail. He recalled getting a letter from Korey saying their toddler daughter had suffered a concussion, but he had no way of knowing how serious the injury was.

After completing his captain’s course at Fort Rucker, Somogyi finished his eightyear Army career at Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Lewis in Washington state. After eight years as a pilot, Somogyi was looking at flying a desk instead of a helicopter if he continued as an active-duty Army officer.

“He’s not happy if he isn’t flying,” Korey said.

Somogyi figured he would transition into the civilian world and become a medical helicopter pilot. But while he was winding up his activeduty career, he impressed a National Guard general who urged him to consider a fulltime Guard posting. Upon hearing that the Somogyis wanted to return to western Colorado, that general put in a good word at HAATS.