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Air Force officer teaches at Korean Air University

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Cheryl L. Toner
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFPN) --  "They have too much freedom," was Andrew "A.J." Bossard's first thought about the United States. That was 35 years ago when, as a 14-year-old, he was adopted by an American couple in Pennsylvania. 

Today, Lt. Col. Bossard has spent 17 years in uniform, defending the freedoms he once thought were excessive. He also is serving in the country from where he was adopted: South Korea. 

Step back in time to the '70s, where in America, children were still being bussed to integrated schools, President Nixon was impeached and three Kent State students were killed by national guardsmen in Ohio during an anti-war demonstration. 

During the same time, mixed-race children in South Korea weren't close to overcoming their '50s nickname, "dust in the streets." The name reflected a pervasive negative attitude toward biracial children at the time, according to the Public Broadcasting Service. 

Not having been given the equivalent of a social security number, the young Bossard felt the effect of not being fully accepted into society. His mother also knew it. Her solution? Put her son up for adoption.

Enter Louise Meister, a generous woman who "found" A.J. through the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. Ms. Meister sent gifts, letters and postcards to the 3-year-old. He remembers going to the P.S. Buck mobile center, with his number -- "I'll never forget that number" -- where he was weighed and his photo was taken. Years later, he discovered that Ms. Meister was upset that he was adopted by someone else.

"She was an angel," he said. 

In sixth grade, he earned the "governor's award" for academic achievement and a tae kwon do state championship gold medal. Since his potential eclipsed the pervasive negative attitudes, his mother told him that his opportunities in the U.S. were "endless." 

Yet young A.J. didn't want to go to America. Not that it mattered: three months after he discovered his mother put him up adoption, he found himself stepping off the plane in New York. He turned 14 years old during the flight, and he knew how to spell two English words: his first name and "hi."

Thrown into American culture, the teenager spent the first three nights in his new home sleeping on the floor.

"I thought I was going to fall off the bed!" he said. He also spent the summer learning English and getting accustomed to American mores. 

Not only were there cultural issues that he dealt with, but he also went from a family where he was the only child to a family where he joined five other children. In school, he excelled in soccer, science and math. His most difficult class was not English; it was history.

"One large page took me three hours," the colonel said. 

Another difficult class? Since Koreans dressed more modestly than American teenagers, it was the mortifying subject of human sexuality.

"I was so embarrassed," he said, describing the experience while covering his face and laughing at the same time. His embarrassment impeded him from picking up the information, which meant tutoring after class, "and the teacher was a woman!"

Now he is back in South Korea and teaching classes at the Korean Air University in Daejeon, about 90 minutes south of Osan. But getting back here was a long trip that took him all over the world. 

After high school, he attended Wilkes University in Pennsylvania and joined the ROTC program.

"I had no idea the differences between the services," he said. "(I just) always wanted to come into the military."

His assignments have taken him around the globe: California; South Carolina; Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Korea; Saudi Arabia numerous times; and the U.S. embassy in Egypt. His specialty is communications, working with programs such as the SR-71 Blackbird and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. 

Along the way, he married and had two children. Not forgetting where he came from or the opportunities his maternal mother gave him, Colonel Bossard also came back to Korea to take care of his mother. She is now part of his immediate family and has also traveled the world with her son. 

So, 17 years after raising his right hand, and affirming the military oath, he is back home again. Sporting a small, winged gold pin above his nametag, the accoutrement is no larger than a quarter. However, it signifies a lot. Colonel Bossard didn't go through the Academic Instructor School at Maxwell. He was again thrown into a sink-or-swim situation as he earned his right to teach by passing both written and oral tests at the Korean Academic University -- in Korean.

"Since I couldn't take the oral test until I passed the written, I had dictionaries everywhere," he said. 

His assignment here is unique. Colonel Bossard is only the fourth American to teach at the Korean Air University. The other three Americans were officers whose goal was to set up the course in the 1950s.

"Almost every place I've been (to) I've been fascinated with the operations side, even though I was in support," he said. "It opened my eyes.

"I would do my thing here," Colonel Bossard said as he did a typing-on-a-keyboard motion, "and I'm looking over here, at the operations side." 

His interest paid off. Not only is he teaching air power theory and strategy to South Korean Air Force professional military education students, but also he is called about three times a year to lecture at places like the Korean Air Force Academy. Here for two years, he extended for another year to help with and teach plans, combined and joint operations, as well as air and space strategy. 

Looking back, the colonel will never forget about the opportunities he was given. He'll never forget Ms. Meister, "an angel." And, he'll never forget his first impression of the U.S.: "It's scary. They should be under control." 

"Right now, I'm more than happy," he said. While he doesn't know what his future holds, he does know he wants to teach.

"That feeling, when (the students) say they got it, can't compare to anything else."