Local airman speaks of life as pilot in Air Force

     MONONA -- Lt. Col. Bret Echard knows what allowed him to have a successful career as an officer in the United States Air Force. It was the life lessons he learned while growing up in small-town Iowa. Thursday the Monona native shared those lessons - the ones he passes on to the younger pilots he currently trains - while speaking to a large crowd at the Murphy Helwig Library.

     “A community raises family, families take care of each other and I can promise you that’s very successful, especially in the military,” he said.

     One of the key lessons Echard said he learned was how to fail.

     “A lot of mistakes that kids make, adults make, too,” he said. “I probably learned more through failure at a young age than I did from success. When you fail at something there are lessons that you take along with you throughout your life.”

For more of this story see the June 26 Outlook.