Interviewer(s): S. Wiltz. Lafayette, LA

Affiliation: University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Mr. Lionel Galvan was born and raised in Texas. He went to Texas A&M for about a year and then, not wanting to be drafted into the Army (this was after the Korean Conflict), volunteered for the Marine Corps, where he served as a mechanic/crew chief for four years. After serving, he got his Airframe and Powerplant license from Spartan School of Aeronautics and, in 1961, got a job with PHI, Incorporated in Lafayette. He started out as a mechanic, but worked his way up to crew chief, and is currently a pilot mechanic. He provides a detailed description of some of the work he has done serving the oilfield as a helicopter pilot.